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Summer service offers meaning to Bonner Scholars
BY LINDA EVANS
Editor, RichmondNow
To CeCe Weitzman, '07, the sounds of laughter from one 4-year-old on the Crestview Elementary School playground had special meaning last summer.
Only a year ago, the young boy was "selectively mute" following a cochlear implant, not interacting with other children and rarely saying more than "ooh" or "aah."
"A year later, I am thrilled with how far he has come," said Weitzman, a Bonner Scholar from Easton, Pa., who has volunteered at Crestview for two years. "He is extremely smart, counting, saying his ABC's and doing his art projects like a pro."
Weitzman worked one-on-one with the child several times and helped him become more adventurous on the playground equipment. "By the end of my four weeks at Crestview last summer, he was taking the risks himself and always looking to me for further encouragement," she observed.
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Bonner Scholar LaTonia Smith taught a weekly class for Partnership for the Future. High school students learned about respect, professional dress, self-confidence and other skills needed for success on the job. |
The 4-year-old is one of many children Weitzman has worked with individually during her service at the school. She reads books, helps with art projects and provides "a model for them to understand the importance of using speech to communicate, rather than sign language, despite their hearing disability."
The Bonner Scholars Program, made possible by the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, is committed to "changing the world through service." Bonner Scholars volunteer 10 hours per week during the academic year at service organizations in the Richmond area and also volunteer in Richmond or elsewhere around the world during two summers. In return, they receive a partial scholarship each of their four years at Richmond.
Also volunteering in Richmond last summer and for two academic years, Brittany Gardner, '06, of Chattanooga, Tenn., combined her passion for serving the community with her academic and professional interests by working at the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. The society provides legal services to low-income and elderly individuals in such areas as domestic violence, divorce, child custody, elder law, landlord-tenant disputes and public benefits.
Gardner's daily responsibilities included interviewing clients, contacting clients to update them on the status of their cases and preparing legal documents.
"What I like best about volunteering for Legal Aid is the o r g a n i z a t i o n ' s willingness to allow volunteers to interact with clients and become involved in cases," she said. "Legal Aid has given me the chance to take a hands-on approach and gain practical knowledge not only about the law, but also about the legal needs of low-income individuals."
Gardner plans to continue her volunteer work with Legal Aid during the 2005-06 school year.
Thousands of miles away, Kelly Norman, '07, of Mt. Lake Park, Md., participated in a health education project in Calca, Peru, under the auspices of ProWorld Service Corps, which provides cultural, service and academic experiences in Peru, Belize and Mexico.
"I taught an adolescent health curriculum during evening classes at the local high school," she said. The curriculum covered such themes as self esteem, values, stereotypical ideas about gender roles, decision making, fatherhood and motherhood, sexuality, AIDS, personal communication and employment.
"Calca is a tiny village with one stop-light and one paved brick road. My class consisted of 30 kids between 11 and 18 who all work or help within their homes during the day. They were tired but eager to learn."
This academic year, Norman plans to continue her previous service with the Richmond office of National Student Partnership, a student-led service organization that links people in need with the resources and opportunities necessary to become selfsufficient. The center often works with homeless individuals in transition.
Closer to campus, LaTonia Smith, '06,of Richmond, has worked with several area organizations, including Ronald McDonald House and various elementary and middle schools. Her summer experience was with Partnership for the Future, a program started in 1995 by Markel Corp. The program takes rising high school juniors and places them in internships at area businesses that provide a mentor and salary. Partnership for the Future supplies transportation and lunch and matches any money the intern can save for college from the summer's pay.
"I was an intern coordinator," said Smith. "I was responsible for working closely with eight high school students, assisting and mentoring them throughout the summer." In addition, she taught self-development sessions for all the students once a week.
"As a graduate of the partnership program, I have loved seeing it grow and develop into the amazing program that it is today," she said. Smith has recruited other Bonner Scholars to work with her.
"Being a Bonner Scholar has made a tremendous difference in the quality of my education," Smith observed. "I have learned to understand how blessed each and every person truly is and to be humble. Life can throw many curve balls in your direction . . . but working with children who are continuously being thrown curve balls and are still able to keep their spirits high, I understand that I too must do the same."
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