Aiken Students Serve the Community
Posted by Terry White on December 11, 2009
From the Aiken (SC) Standard. Steve Taylor is pastor of the Aiken church.
By ROB NOVIT
Senior writer
Kaitlyn Lawless, an Aiken Christian School sophomore, recently joined her high school classmates on a trip to Charlotte, N.C., to work with the Operation Christmas Child project.
“We packed boxes to send all over the world,” she said of the collection of toys, school supplies and hygiene items to donate to low-income children. “It’s good to go out and help others.”
Soon after he formally joined the school staff as headmaster last June, Pat Deveney introduced the Alpha Service Project. Students are required to contribute a minimum of 30 hours of community service during the school year.
“I’ve been doing this in schools I’ve worked at for many years,” Deveney said. “We’ll do a number of things throughout the year. We’ve served our whole campus here at Grace Brethren Church, cleaning up the grounds and even pouring concrete to help with a building project.”
The middle school students recently visited the Head Start Center in Aiken to spend time with the 3- and 4-year-old children.
“We read to the kids, including Christmas books, Dr. Seuss and books about colors,” said sixth-grader Ally Jones. “They listened well to us and enjoyed it, and that made me feel good. I probably would like to do that again sometime.”
Bookkeeper Laura Foreman is providing coordination for many of the service projects.
“It’s teaching the children the act of service for the community for those who are less fortunate,” she said. “It gives them the opportunity to serve, and the kids love it.”
The students are also expected to do good work on their own in the community. Lawless said she has helped out at church.
“We have students who are already in the 160-hour range,” Deveney said. “Many will go over 100.”
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