Senior Ditch Day 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 was Faith Lutheran’s school-approved Senior Ditch Day. Seniors were given three options: 1. coming to school, 2. taking the day off, or 3. going to Opportunity Village to volunteer for the morning. The results? 1 senior came to school, 147 took the day off, and 21 seniors boarded a bus with Mr. Dudley and me at 8:30 am and headed to Opportunity Village. Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people with intellectual disabilities by providing them with vocational training, employment, and social recreation services that make their lives more productive and interesting. After a brief tour of the new Opportunity Village campus on South Buffalo, it was time to serve. Some seniors worked in the Art Enrichment area, some in the Enable program helping clients with crafts, and some in the vocational center where they provided social interaction with the clients and helped them package chocolates for the Bellagio and Aria hotels. I walked away very impressed with Opportunity Village. What an amazing organization. I also walked away very impressed with 21 seniors who gave up a free day off from school to serve God while they served others. They each jumped at the chance to make someone’s day a little brighter. 
Riding back on the bus on our way to Red Rock Resort for a buffet lunch, I sat in the front of the bus and listened to the seniors tell one another about the great experiences they had at Opportunity Village. There was wonderful enthusiasm in their voices. There is great JOY (Jesus-Others-You) when you put others ahead of yourselves. Acts 20:35 sums it up perfectly: “It is more blessed to give than to receive!” Hopefully, this will become an annual tradition that grows each year with our seniors on Senior Ditch Day. These 21 seniors will have been the pioneers that got us started.
Sydney Spoon, Maddy Courvoisier, Jamie Ward, Caitlyn Crosby, Karlyn Cambridge, Tim Heidorn, Jeff Jackson, Jordan Kiger, Hannah Stevens, Kelley Whatley, Ahmeraya Ahmed, Allegra Demerjian, Katherine Stockdale, Kesia Ross, Sarah Culler, Kami Meier, Jacqueline Meyer, Audrey Swanson, Alyssa Plassman, Rachel Hackwith,and Mahlia Posey
Posted: February 17th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1
Comments
Comment from Steve
Time: June 13, 2010, 1:10 pm
Helping at Opportunity Village sounds like a great idea!
But not on ditch day.
You said: “Hopefully, this will become an annual tradition that grows each year with our seniors on Senior Ditch Day.”
Why not other days instead? Why not regularly?
Why not give up a day a week to serve others
instead of getting the same old same old in classes everyday?
What a teacher “says” often has little to do with what is remembered by the students down the road. They can do with a vacation from the teacher’s voice.
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