Peer Leaders Care with United Way 2023
by Madison Werner, Health Assistant, Class of 2024
Putting in hard work and dedication are acts that many teenagers choose to avoid. Although that may be the case for many, each year, LCCTC’s Peer Leaders strive in those aspects of work to participate in the United Way’s Day of Caring community service event.
On September 7th, twenty of our ambitious Peer Leaders united with other sponsoring organizations, high school students, and community members at Cascade Park to commune over an appetizing breakfast of Dunkin Donuts and food catered by Medures. While the eager participants prepared for their assigned duties of the day, mindful speeches were made and uplifting guitar and singing were shared.
Following many pictures taken to capture the start, the Peer Leaders migrated to the South Side Community Garden of New Castle where they were instructed in the following services: preserve the beds for winter, clean up the creek, and even apply sealant to the wood to keep it fresh. After a few hours of attentive labor, the Peer Leaders conversed over a delectable supply of pizza and drinks for lunch. After the refreshing meal, the hardworking and very thankful kids parted ways to head back to school with full stomachs and a great sense of accomplishment, overjoyed for – once again – another opportunity to give back to their community.
A few students were asked to share how they felt giving back to our community and what their favorite part of the day was.
Restaurant Trades junior, Hope Franklin stated, “I love being in Peer Leadership and United Way's Day of Caring is just one part of the prime examples of the amazing things we do! Being able to help our community and spread our LCCTC spirit makes me enthusiastic.”
Following that, Jhenavessa Miller, a junior in our Electrical Occupations program, exclaimed that one of her favorite things about being in Peer Leadership was all of the amazing activities that we do outside of school and that the experience of United Way Day of Caring makes her ecstatic. To know that we have impacted our community, to make it just a little better, brings a sense of joy.
A few other students such as Gabbi Schiek (11th Cosmo), Shane Grannis (11th VA), Dan Tedrow (12th Welding), Ky’la Vignovich (11th Cosmo), Bryce Rhodes (12th, COT), and Lynnden Cummins (11th COT) were asked the same question which they all exclaimed the same thing: They enjoyed conversing outside of the classroom and working with other students they usually would not. Also, they felt a sense of pride and enthusiasm to be able to give back to our community while learning life skills such as communication, active listening, and teamwork.
We could not be more proud of our Peer Leadership team for stepping up as role models in both our community and school, putting their best foot forward as always, and getting the job done.
