A committee of teachers planned activities for the week to encompass learning goals of character education and community volunteerism in addition to enforcing their technical skills. On Tuesday, 68 students volunteered at the Veterans’ Home and Meadow Wood Nursing Home in Georgetown. They paired up with residents to sing songs, play games, read stories, and the Cosmetology students provided manicuring services. Students and staff reported truly enjoying the time spent and acknowledged that bridging the generational gap was more fun and easier than expected!

On Wednesday, 59 students traveled to extend their services at the Blue Creek Homeless Shelter in West Union, Samaritan Outreach and the Extended Arms Homeless Shelter in Hillsboro, Meals on Wheels, Helping Hands, Gaslight Theater, and the Fire Department all in Georgetown. At these establishments the students performed various duties to clean and organize for spring! In addition, 11 students from the Diversified Health Occupations program and Mrs. Brookover’s Anatomy class observed a knee replacement surgery at COSI in Columbus.

Sixty-four students rallied on Thursday to continue community service at the following organizations: Helping Hands, MRDD, Adams-Brown Recycling Center, Meadow Wood Nursing Home, and the Veterans’ Home in Georgetown; Locust Ridge Nursing Home in Williamsburg; and Clermont County Homeless Shelter and Grant Farm in Clermont County. Friday, 58 students joined for a cumulative final project by cleaning up at the Kathryn Hanlon Park in Georgetown. Afterwards, there was a celebration of the events with a picnic lunch and games to recognize the dedication of the student body.

This week’s lesson plans were made possible by the Learn and Serve America grant to integrate service learning, character education and career development into regular classroom teaching. Southern Hills Career & Technical Center is proud to be part of the Ohio Department of Education’s statewide service learning effort.