In today’s fast-paced world, the role of schools extends past just educating students from within the classroom walls. At Lakeland High School, community involvement plays a big role and teaches students how to serve others.
Lakeland has a volunteer group that signs up and helps around the community, called Key Club.
Key Club is a student-led organization and their motto is “Caring: Our Way of Life.”
The club is a great opportunity for high school students to get involved in the community as well as get some service hours for their college resumes.
“I originally joined because of my friends but I’ve grown to love volunteering and meeting new people through it.”Aryah Black Eagle-Seres, a key club member, said.
Key Club encourages students and participants to take action and address local needs and improve their surroundings.
By being a part of Key Club it can teach students life-long leadership skills and build friendships through shared commitment of service.
Another aspect of service at Lakeland is that they have had their varsity baseball team volunteer and help out at a kids camp recently.
Just last week the varsity baseball team headed over to John Brown Elementary School, they helped run stations and played games with the children at their Cougar Kudos Celebration.
By being around the elementary school students, the boys brought a sense of mentorship since younger kids look up to the teenagers.
Back in January, Lakeland had their annual Battle for the Paddle and this is another way they give back to the community.
This event is a fundraising race against the Sandpoint bulldogs to see who could raise more money and eventually donate the funds to the charities of their choosing.
The ways they raised funds was by having many different options of experiences and items for students such as buying an extended lunch pass, doing a penny drive, the option to buy tickets to attend the event, and having teachers make bets if Lakeland can achieved a certain monetary goal, such as getting a temporary tattoo, spray tan, switching classes with other teachers for a day, or even getting an egg cracked on a teachers head.
Lakeland ended up winning with a total amount of thirty-one thousand dollars from the fundraising.
They decided to donate it to the organizations; Lakeland strong account and the Lions Club Nutritional Weekend Backpack Program.
Lakeland Strong is an organization set up to give back to the kids in need around the Lakeland school district.
The Lions Club Nutritional Weekend Backpack Program is an organization that provides eligible students with healthy and non-perishable foods to ensure that they have adequate nutrition and meals when school meals are unavailable.
By donating to these organizations, it brings awareness to the Lakeland students that they might not have learned about it if the money was not raised for it.
Lakeland also does a bi-annual blood drive in November and March.
They donate through Vitalant and it gives back to the community by providing them with a blood supply that can be crucial and lifesaving for certain people in need.
“The reason I chose to donate is because a certain type of universal blood can save many lives, and if you are able to do it, why would you not?” Jacqueline Gallus, a student who donated, said.
The bi-annual blood drives are not only good for helping address the communities critical need for blood donations, but gives the students an opportunity to exercise their involvement in the community.
The blood drive can also serve as an educational lesson for students to learn about and raise awareness about blood donations and how it saves lives.
This can also build up our community by tying people together with a common cause and it shows how Lakeland values and cares for its community.
Each of these community service activities not only advance great causes and help the community, but it brings responsibility to the Lakeland students and brings long-lasting impacts to the surrounding community.
