12/23/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- Athens High School's student council, with guidance and resources from Ohio University's Center for Community Service, is establishing a center to recruit and train students as volunteers.
A dedication ceremony for Students Organized for Service (SOS) is planned at the group's new high school office at 2:45 p.m. Jan. 5. The center is the culmination of efforts by the student council's eight-member community service committee.
"We think it will be valuable to anyone who gets involved," said Will Bain, an Athens High School senior who heads the student council. The council decided to pursue the idea after seeing the number of worthwhile projects Ohio University students get involved with through the Center for Community Service, he added.
Center for Community Service volunteer mobilization coordinator Patti Rouse will help advise the high school students, and university work study student Cynthia Poore will spend 10 hours a week teaching student council members how to recruit and train volunteers. The university center also will share with students a database listing opportunities for volunteers at 68 organizations in the Athens area.
"There are some people who already volunteer at the high school, but we thought this would be a way for the other people to get involved," said Gretchen Kelmer, an Athens High School sophomore and chair of the student council's community service committee. "Volunteering can broaden kids' horizons and make them look beyond themselves."
Kelmer said volunteers may realize several benefits, including a boost in their self-esteem and exposure to different fields that might spur career interests. The students also see community service as a discipline option school officials could consider instead of detention or expulsion.
Principal Mike Meek said he is proud of the initiative student council members are showing through projects like SOS.
"They're trying to do community projects as well as work with the students," Meek said. "I think it's good to give something back to the community."
SOS also will broaden the community's volunteer base, Rouse said.
"It's going to open up a whole new sector of the community to serve as volunteers," she said.