More than one third of seniors at Mineola High School chose to get involved in community service through the Falk-Sysak Student Service Center as part of their final project last year,
“Last year we had eight different projects going on involving 25 teachers, and we believe at least 500 to 600 kids in the high school were involved,” Eileen Burke, co-director of the Falk-Sysak student service center, told the Mineola School Board workshop meeting last week.
Burke said the Falk-Sysak center combines the curriculum with community service to meet actual community needs.
“It provides the opportunity for students to give,” she said.
Burke presented five students at the board’s workshop meeting who discussed their work at the center and their experiences, while a power point displayed participants at different programs.
One of the programs the students attended was visiting the Sun Harbor nursing homes where students made cards for the seniors for Veterans Day, Valentines Day and Christmas. An image showed a student with a senior named Sophie, who was a graduate of Mineola High School class of 1933.
A program called lunch bunch, which has been ongoing for 27 years, brings seniors to Mineola High School for lunch with students.
Mineola High School senior Jasleen Kaur presented a letter from a senior Nancy Gaines regarding the program.
“It’s special day for me when I can have a meal with other people,” Gaines said in the letter. “Eating alone is not so much fun, but eating with students is a great pleasure. Mineola High School has restored my faith in the future.”
Kaur said the letter was sweet and eating lunch with the seniors is something she enjoys.
“I feel like we show them that we care, and that there is a future for them,” Kaur said. “It shows we are nice and aren’t just kids going to school who don’t care about the future.”
Another program brings seniors down to the middle school library to learn how to use computers from the students teach. The program is held in fall, spring and winter seasons with four sessions each per season.
“Some have never even touched a computer but some are advanced and want to be taught photo shop and such,” said Mineola High School senior Lina Kim. “The good thing is its not only you helping them learn about computers but they help you too. I’ve learned to be more patient and be a better tutor.”
Students in the program also volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House in New Hyde Park, which provides housing for families who have a sick child in a local hospital.
Mineola High School was the first high school to send students to the Ronald McDonald House more than 20 years ago, Burke said.
A major project is offered to senior AP biology, English students and the life-skills students called Service for Scholars. The students work in collaboration with each other after the AP tests are taken in May on a project focused on butterflies.
“The students raise the butterflies, and AP kids come up with lesson plans on the life cycle of the butterfly,” Burke said. “They write poems about the butterflies, watch videos on them, and make games about the butterflies. At the end we have a butterfly launch as the seniors are ready to launch into the world, its just phenomenal.”
