7th & 8th Grades—Wauconda Care Community Service
It is a sacrifice to build time into your week to volunteer—to be of service. It is an expectation that our seventh and eighth grade students will participate in service projects throughout the year and earn volunteer hours.
For five weeks leading up to Easter, students in the seventh and eighth grades chose to spend two hours after school every Friday to visit Wauconda Care—a local center for physical rehabilitation and nursing home care. During our visits we played music, did yo-yo and card tricks, and offered companionship to the residents. Students helped push residents to the dining hall and visited with them while they ate. They also helped take them back to their rooms. There was always conversation going on, and the students were brave and compassionate. They did a great job working through the awkwardness of getting comfortable in a new setting and working with elderly people. They did it!
Grateful
The folks at Wauconda Care were grateful for the time that we spent with them. They would often comment to me about what a lovely group of children I brought to them. Some would tell me to report back to the child's parents, letting them know what a "dear, dear child" they had. They were also appreciative of the music that the children brought. Somebody even asked me if they were all my children. Afterward, we laughed about how outrageous that would be!
Lest you think this was all sacrifice, after each visit the students would go to Bulldogs for hamburgers and have time for fun!
It was a somewhat arduous pleasure, but a pleasure and honor, nonetheless, to support these children in this endeavor. I don't know about them, but I will be returning to visit some of the new friends we've made at Wauconda Care.
Sincerely,
Donna Brooks
