Adam Wilson, Kristi Stropes, Kelly Germann, and Justin Cluxton attended the Ohio Youth Leadership Challenge on October 6 and 7. They were in the company of over one hundred other students from all over Ohio. The purpose of the Challenge was to spread the word about the importance of service learning. The Service Learning Challenge Conference was held in the atrium of the Statehouse in Columbus. It was a beautiful setting and each student was given a chance to tour the Statehouse and visit the museum located in the lower level of the structure.

These students were privileged to meet Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Deborah S. Delisle. Ms. Delisle gave the opening address to the participants at theYouth Leadership Challenge. In the address she singled out the Ripley Union Lewis Huntington School District for being a leader in the field of service learning especially in their efforts with the annual senior citizen prom.

Students involved in the Challenge performed service projects. They were split into five groups. Adam Wilson, joined forces with other students to help keep the Statehouse grounds looking beautiful. Justin Cluxton worked with still other students at Batelle Park doing some painting and beautification projects. Kelly Germann and Kristi Stropes made manipulatives for visually impaired pre-school children. They created three dimensional figures that will eventually accompany specific fairy tales and nursery rhymes for visually handicapped students in the Columbus area. There were two other options that did not involve our local students directly, but did however involve students from other school districts. These included writing and illustrating children’s books on topics that deal with social issues, and creating a video on the importance of service learning.

The RULH students that attended the Challenge were selected to have their school district receive a free video camera and tripod which will be used to capture various service learning projects that will take place during the school year.