Whether you’re building solar ovens or working at a soup kitchen, you are doing some kind of service on a spring morning. With a saw in one hand and a paint brush in the other, you begin to notice the amount of organization and money put into this project to obtain the proper leaders and materials needed. You think to yourself, who and what has made this day possible?

The Service Learning Club is a group of willing students who meet in room 38 every other Wednesday during lunch, and much more frequently when nearing service learning events, such as Day on the Green, to talk about and plan the implementation of service learning into our school’s curriculum.

“Even if a student doesn’t want to be involved, I think it’s important that every student tries service learning at least once,” said president of the Service Learning Club senior Mariah Papy.

Papy’s vision has come to life, as every single PHS student tries service learning at least once a year in late May during service learning day, a day that the Service Learning Club spends months preparing for.

Papy said that for this event and other service learning events, the club gets some funding from ASB and the parent club, but mostly they have to raise it on their own.

“To raise donations we had an idea to do some kind of film festival to raise money and we figured it would be perfect to use the sophomores’ PSAs and do a showing for donations,” Papy said.

Papy said that raising their own money for the club is actually very rewarding.

“The PSA film festival is showing on March 23rd from 7 to 8 p.m,” said senior Sarah Chin, member of the Service Learning Club. “A five dollar donation is widely appreciated.”

Papy said that being a part of the club is both fun and worthwhile.

“When we watched all of our planning come to life, it felt so good to watch everyone do something that was so influential to them, but that also helped the community,” Papy said.

Chin said that the most important part of service learning is that it gets all of the students and community involved together.

“It is a required thing through school but we just want people to understand its importance,” Chin said.

If anyone understands the importance of service learning it’s history teacher and club advisor Courtney Goen.

“It’s a way to break up the regular routine of school and class, the fact that it’s pursuing skills you’re going to need in life,” Goen said.

Goen said that service learning allows the audience of our work to grow larger.

“Service learning incorporates this idea that I am doing this because there is a greater connection outside this bubble which we all get trapped in sometimes,” Goen said.

Papy agrees with Goen, that service learning allows us to look past this bubble of Piedmont.

“It’s important to understand we are a part of a larger community and with the resources we have we need to make a positive impact on this larger community,” Papy said.