B-E Students Complete Community Service
By Sydney Hoffman on January 3, 2018
Bridgewater-Emery Middle School and High School students completed community service projects in lieu of their annual Christmas activities at the school Friday, Dec. 21. Students worked on their assigned community service project from 8:30-11:30. Projects were assigned to students by their “Huskie Time” group. These groups have a variety of students from different grade levels, and each is also usually assigned two to three staffs members.
Dan Burnham’s, Dorothy Pringle’s and Jessie VanLeur’s middle school Huskie group met in Mr. Burnham’s room. Students in this group created birthday parties in a box that were donated to the Mitchell Safe House and Abbott House. Each box contained balloons, birthday hats, candles and streamers along with a cake mix.
Jessica Schulz’s and Jerico Shape’s middle school Huskie group reported to Mrs. Schulz’s room. The students in this group made birthday cards for the Diamond Care and Grandview Assisted Living Center. Students decorated each card wrote a nice message and signed it from B-E Middle School. The students made a total of 50 cards.
Patricia Lager’s and JoAnne Ernster’s Huskie group worked with Scott Schultz’s and Tim Zorr’s Huskie group to first sack presents for the residents of the Diamond Care and Grandview Assisted Living Center in Mr. Schultz’s room. Fifty presents were organized, and each one included socks and candy. After packaging the gifts, these students delivered them to the nursing home in Bridgewater. The students stayed to visit, play games, sing Christmas carols and give manicures to the residents.
“For the service project, I painted a lady’s nails while we listened to other kids sing Christmas carols at the nursing home,” senior Ashley Horvath said. “We ended the visit with a couple games of BINGO. It was fun getting to spend time with the residents and hearing them sing along to the carols. I think it’s very rewarding and important for not only the residents but for the kids to visit and spend time with the elderly.”
Rochelle Carlson’s middle school Huskie group and Whitney Fisher’s and Nicole VanLeur’s high school Huskie group worked in Mrs. Carlson’s room and the teacher workroom. The students in this group created and made learning activities for the Learning Bridge and Little Learners. Students made two sets of flashcards for each site. The flashcards included months of the year, shapes, colors, numbers 0-20 and the alphabet. All flashcards were made, copied, laminated, cut and delivered to each pre-school site.
Frankie Nelson’s and Allyssa Soto’s high school Huskie group worked with Karen Roudabush’s and Jeff VanLeur’s high school Huskie group in Mrs. Roudabush’s and Mrs. Nelson’s room. These groups made freezer meals and sugar cookies for older individuals in need of them within the community. Three different meals were made for ten different individuals.
“I enjoyed making the freezer meals for those in need of them along with making the cards because I knew it would bring the individuals joy and help them have a happy holiday season,” junior Bailey Haiar said.
Sue Rayman’s and Tracy Gilliland’s middle school group met in Mrs. Rayman’s room to pack items for the store at the Diamond Care and Grandview Assisted Living. These items included the following: shampoo, conditioner, candy, lotion, adult coloring books, colored pencils, shaving cream, Kleenex, pens, pencils and nail polish. Items were boxed by similar items and delivered to the Diamond Care Center. This group also remained at the Diamond Care for the rest of the morning to play games, sing carols, visit and paint nails with the residents.
Joy Berg’s, Jenny Mann’s and Jen Martinez’s middle school Huskie group spent time with the elderly at the Senior Citizen Center in Emery. The students in this group had cookies, coffee and game time with the senior citizens. They were also encouraged to carol with the senior citizens and around the community.
Oliva Forman’s, Wesley Hilton’s and Jared Anderson’s high school Huskie group made “Hospital Hope Kits.” These included coloring books, word searches and crossword books, granola bars, bottled water, lip balm, etc. Each kit also contained a handmade card made by the B-E students in this group. Boxes are to be distributed to both Avera Queen of Peace and Sanford Children’s Hospital. Hygiene kits were also made and distributed to these sites for the patients that do not expect to spend consecutive nights in the hospital.
Connie Whistler offered a computer class at the high school with help from students Jackson Harberts, Sophia Robocker and Jared Vinz. This class was also hosted Dec. 21 from 8:30-11:30.
Lastly, the school organized a clothing drive at the Zion Lutheran Church. Volunteer parent, Christa Tusha, oversaw this project with help from freshman and sophomore students Johanna Tusha, Keesha Letcher, Shaylee Longe, Taylor Schallenkamp and Kaitlyn Roskens.
If some projects were completed before 11:30, students were asked to help with any of the following: wipe down fitness room and weight room equipment, empty garbage cans in all classrooms and take all garbage to the dumpster, clean the student lounge and wipe down desks/tables in each classroom with disinfectant.
After the projects were completed, students were dismissed at 11:30 for lunch or home.
Dan Burnham’s, Dorothy Pringle’s and Jessie VanLeur’s middle school Huskie group met in Mr. Burnham’s room. Students in this group created birthday parties in a box that were donated to the Mitchell Safe House and Abbott House. Each box contained balloons, birthday hats, candles and streamers along with a cake mix.
Jessica Schulz’s and Jerico Shape’s middle school Huskie group reported to Mrs. Schulz’s room. The students in this group made birthday cards for the Diamond Care and Grandview Assisted Living Center. Students decorated each card wrote a nice message and signed it from B-E Middle School. The students made a total of 50 cards.
Patricia Lager’s and JoAnne Ernster’s Huskie group worked with Scott Schultz’s and Tim Zorr’s Huskie group to first sack presents for the residents of the Diamond Care and Grandview Assisted Living Center in Mr. Schultz’s room. Fifty presents were organized, and each one included socks and candy. After packaging the gifts, these students delivered them to the nursing home in Bridgewater. The students stayed to visit, play games, sing Christmas carols and give manicures to the residents.
“For the service project, I painted a lady’s nails while we listened to other kids sing Christmas carols at the nursing home,” senior Ashley Horvath said. “We ended the visit with a couple games of BINGO. It was fun getting to spend time with the residents and hearing them sing along to the carols. I think it’s very rewarding and important for not only the residents but for the kids to visit and spend time with the elderly.”
Rochelle Carlson’s middle school Huskie group and Whitney Fisher’s and Nicole VanLeur’s high school Huskie group worked in Mrs. Carlson’s room and the teacher workroom. The students in this group created and made learning activities for the Learning Bridge and Little Learners. Students made two sets of flashcards for each site. The flashcards included months of the year, shapes, colors, numbers 0-20 and the alphabet. All flashcards were made, copied, laminated, cut and delivered to each pre-school site.
Frankie Nelson’s and Allyssa Soto’s high school Huskie group worked with Karen Roudabush’s and Jeff VanLeur’s high school Huskie group in Mrs. Roudabush’s and Mrs. Nelson’s room. These groups made freezer meals and sugar cookies for older individuals in need of them within the community. Three different meals were made for ten different individuals.
“I enjoyed making the freezer meals for those in need of them along with making the cards because I knew it would bring the individuals joy and help them have a happy holiday season,” junior Bailey Haiar said.
Sue Rayman’s and Tracy Gilliland’s middle school group met in Mrs. Rayman’s room to pack items for the store at the Diamond Care and Grandview Assisted Living. These items included the following: shampoo, conditioner, candy, lotion, adult coloring books, colored pencils, shaving cream, Kleenex, pens, pencils and nail polish. Items were boxed by similar items and delivered to the Diamond Care Center. This group also remained at the Diamond Care for the rest of the morning to play games, sing carols, visit and paint nails with the residents.
Joy Berg’s, Jenny Mann’s and Jen Martinez’s middle school Huskie group spent time with the elderly at the Senior Citizen Center in Emery. The students in this group had cookies, coffee and game time with the senior citizens. They were also encouraged to carol with the senior citizens and around the community.
Oliva Forman’s, Wesley Hilton’s and Jared Anderson’s high school Huskie group made “Hospital Hope Kits.” These included coloring books, word searches and crossword books, granola bars, bottled water, lip balm, etc. Each kit also contained a handmade card made by the B-E students in this group. Boxes are to be distributed to both Avera Queen of Peace and Sanford Children’s Hospital. Hygiene kits were also made and distributed to these sites for the patients that do not expect to spend consecutive nights in the hospital.
Connie Whistler offered a computer class at the high school with help from students Jackson Harberts, Sophia Robocker and Jared Vinz. This class was also hosted Dec. 21 from 8:30-11:30.
Lastly, the school organized a clothing drive at the Zion Lutheran Church. Volunteer parent, Christa Tusha, oversaw this project with help from freshman and sophomore students Johanna Tusha, Keesha Letcher, Shaylee Longe, Taylor Schallenkamp and Kaitlyn Roskens.
If some projects were completed before 11:30, students were asked to help with any of the following: wipe down fitness room and weight room equipment, empty garbage cans in all classrooms and take all garbage to the dumpster, clean the student lounge and wipe down desks/tables in each classroom with disinfectant.
After the projects were completed, students were dismissed at 11:30 for lunch or home.
