Lindhurst students give back
It seems as though when something goes wrong, all that effort that a school has put into its community disappears behind the negative news that the media puts out. Even with acknowledging the occurrences during the football season between Marysville High School and Lindhurst High School, LHS remains a school filled with avid volunteers who selflessly give up their time and effort into bettering their community.
The negative actions of a handful of LHS students do not represent the majority of LHS students. They don't speak for the LHS Interact Club members who spend countless hours volunteering in their community, such as at the Arboga Elementary Fall Festival, nor do they overshadow the face painting services that LHS art students generously offered at Johnson Park Elementary and Edgewater Elementary schools for their fall festivals, as well as at the Peach Tree Clinic for its Healthy Family Days event.
"Our students here at Lindhurst High School have a strong desire to help the community. I am honored to work with so many motivated, caring young people," said Michelle Greco, our lovely LHS art teacher who actively informs her students of upcoming community-service opportunities.
Another local charity that LHS takes part in is called The Christmas Stocking. In the past year, dozens of families in the Yuba-Sutter community were provided with a basket containing a week's worth of groceries, a Christmas dinner, a toy and a blanket for each child and a personalized stocking stuffed with goodies, such as undergarments and socks, for each child.
The LHS Key Club is organizing what it calls The Cotton Stuffers to support The Christmas Stocking. Its members will be distributing boxes out to local stores and on campus requesting donations of socks and undergarments. After the contributions have been gathered, the club members will deliver the donations in person to the families who are in need of the gifts.
"When you see their faces filled with happiness, thankfulness and relief, it shows you to appreciate the little things in life," said Angela Sheldon, a junior at LHS who is also the Key Club president.
In addition, the poor decisions of a portion of LHS students shouldn't undermine the LHS student body's involvement in the Kids Can event, which helps feed hungry families in our community. The LHS Leadership class is hosting this event, finding ways to increase the number of cans that are donated, even if it means doing something silly like having someone dress up in a can suit to promote our cause (which is exactly what we are doing).
Although our economy isn't in its best state and most of our students come from low-income families, donors are actively giving more cans each day. In fact, as of Monday, we had collected a total of 1,545 cans — and we expect to receive more by the end of the event on Friday.
Even though a portion of our students performed unacceptable actions, the positive actions of LHS students shouldn't be overshadowed. A variety of individuals, whether they are in clubs or are simply students who are interesting in helping out, generate an uplifting atmosphere into our community. It's evident that there are a good number of LHS students who are continuously sacrificing time to help others.
Jamie Yang is a senior at Lindhurst High School. Her column appears every six weeks in Education.
