Muleshoe High School was recently honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award at the Service and Leadership Symposium in Lubbock, Texas.
“Students from both SCAC, Student Community Action Club, and FCCLA attended the training,” said Valerie McCamish, who serves in the interim guidance position for SCAC. FCCLA stands for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.
“We are combining forces this year and will work together on various service projects in our community,” McCamish said. “SCAC was started as a way to support and help the Muleshoe Heritage Center. “Many years ago Chris Mardis started this partnership, and even though he has retired from MISD, the partnership will continue.”
FCCLA is the CTSO (Career Technical Student Association) that supports Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) classes, formerly Home Economics, at MISD. “Through FCCLA, as well as our FCS classes at MHS, students get involved in many community service projects. Family and Community Services is a project-based class where students are learning how to organize and execute community services projects,” McCamish said.
The group’s biggest project so far has been helping with Meals on Wheels. Students deliver meals to the elderly in the community with an adult from MISD, usually one of the administrators, who serves as the driver.
“I have over 30 students in two sections of the class helping with two routes each week,” McCamish said. “It has been a wonderful and eye-opening experience for our students to give back and to get this hands-on experience. They love going and visiting the elderly and are making friends with them as the weeks go by.”
MISD students plan to have fundraising projects during the school year in direct support of Meals on Wheels. Muleshoe High students have also helped with membership banquets for the Chamber of Commerce and Farm Bureau Insurance. In addition, students serve as escorts and provide child care for teachers during parent conferences.
“We also wrote letters for www.seethewish.org. The mission of See the Wish is to stop bullying,” McCamish said.
The Lubbock Volunteer Center provides a monetary gift that can be used to support community service projects in Muleshoe.
“We will be deciding soon how to exactly use that money, but it will support both the Heritage Center and Meals on Wheels for sure,” McCamish said. “We may also decide on other groups to help, or if there is a student or family in need we may also decide to use the monies that way.”
According to Jungwon Park, Youth Engagement and Operations Manager for the Volunteer Center of Lubbock, the Youth In Service program includes 40 middle and high schools in the South Plains area.
“The goal of the program is to build the next generation of community leaders by recognizing youth for the service they provide and by giving them training and support to develop service programs in their schools,” he said.
“I am beyond blessed and lucky that MISD is allowing me to coordinate these service projects via my classroom,” McCamish said. “They see the value in allowing students to have authentic, real-life experiences.