Ames Elementary School Tutoring (September 29, 2005): Harding juniors and their coach visited Ames Elementary School’s afterschool program in September. Each Admission Possible student was paired with a third grade student and helped that student with his or her homework. The Admission Possible students also helped distribute the children’s snacks and read to the students once their homework was completed.
Wellstone Elementary School Library Project (Sept. 28, 2005): Highland Park juniors and their coach traveled to the Wellstone School in Downtown St.Paul to help unload and label boxes of books for the school’s library. 18 students volunteered in the library for one hour, saving the librarian an estimated 20 hours of work, according to the VISTA Volunteer Coordinator at Wellstone. By the end of their service, the students had numbered and unloaded 25 boxes of books!
Red Cross Thank You’s (September 28/29, 2005)
Admission Possible students and staff wrote and decorated thank you notes for Minnesotan Red Cross volunteers aiding in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Volunteer names and addresses were provided by the St Paul Chapter of the Minnesota Red Cross.
Birthday Bags (September 28/29, 2005)
Admission Possible students participated in the Alley Shoppe’s birthday bag efforts for local families. Students decorated bags and wrote cards for the Alley Shoppe volunteers to fill with birthday goodies for local low-income children.
Make a Difference Day – Beautify Your School! (October 19, 2005)
In conjunction with National Volunteer Week and Make a Difference Day, Admission Possible students engaged in an effort at each respective high school to clean up the school grounds. Students raked leaves, picked up trash, washed windows, and helped with a variety of other projects suggested by their school engineers and staff. Prizes were awarded for most beautified school, most bags of leaves raked, most unique item found, and best attendance.
Galtier Elementary School PTA Meeting Babysitting (Oct. 27, 2005): Four Central seniors provided free babysitting for families attending the PTA meeting at Galtier Elementary School. The students played and read books with the twelve children who needed babysitting.
Trick or Treating for Canned Goods (October 31, 2005)
A group of Admission Possible students and staff set out in local St Paul neighborhoods on Halloween night to collect canned goods instead of candy. Items collected were donated to the Minneapolis-based Groveland Food Shelf for Youth. They collected over 400 pounds of canned goods for the food shelf.
Galtier Elementary School Heritage Night (Nov. 10, 2005):
22 students helped serve food and played with children at Galtier’s annual Heritage Night. They were a huge help to the school!
Homecroft Family Night (Dec. 15, 2005): Highland Park juniors and seniors assisted with scarf making, helped create family photos picture frames, assisted with other crafts, and served hot cocoa and cookies to families who attended this event.
Highwood History Month Project (December 2005 and January 2006, ongoing): Two Harding students worked on assembling a History Project about Rosa Parks for History Month at Highwood Elementary school. They researched and assembled a poster board about their chosen topic. In mid-January they presented the project to sixth graders at Highwood Elementary school.
Pre-College Initiative Workshop Presentations/Training Spring 2006 Admission Possible students trained for and ultimately presented College Planning Workshops, offering information about college access to the freshmen and sophomores at their own high schools.
Individual Volunteer Services
Admission Possible students also have had the opportunity to volunteer on a more regular basis in the community on their own. Jaralyn McNeal, a 2006 St. Paul Central High School graduate, volunteered as a dance teaching artist assistant in the Education Department of the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company where she worked with 8-12 year olds on Saturdays.
