27th Annual Student Service Awards
One of the greatest points of pride in this district is our Student Service Center. The Center embodies one of the major tenets of our mission statement – to “contribute positively to a global society”. On May 25th the SSC held it annual awards recognition and I eagerly look forward to attending each year (even with a 7:15 start!) Below is a reflection written by Nicola Lockwood that describes her experience:
In our lives it is sometime necessary that we fill the voids in our conscience through selfless acts of kindness in our community. Mineola High School is a unique place, in that it offers vast amount of student service opportunities. These services affect all kinds of groups of people, ranging from the elderly to the underprivileged. By participating in some of these services, I feel a sense of altruism in knowing that I potentially changed someone’s day.
One of the activities that I have participated in is Computeers, which allows students to teach senior citizens how to use computers. Just this year, I began participating in the program, and I feel that it is one of the most successful student service programs in the school. The senior citizen whom I worked with came into the library on the first day barely knowing how to click a mouse, yet by the very last week of Computeers, she had the ability to click, highlight, copy, paste and more. Besides just improving her skills, what was most impressing to me was the excitement that would show in her face after she would accomplish something on her own. Week after week, this woman would sit down next to me, and couldn’t wait to show me how much she had improved because she had practiced. The fact that I made that much of an impact in her truly meant a lot to me. I was the person who allowed her to accomplish something she had wanted to do for so long, which was to use a computer. Participating in Computeers was not a mere job that earned me a paycheck at the end of the week. It was a program that gave me a deeper meaning, and allowed me to realize that benefitting your community is far more gratifying than something I could have done for my own pleasure.