Service Council and SLLC plan merger for next year

When handfuls of Upper School students tutor at the AGAPE Center, they develop lifelong relationships with the young kids. This is one example of the many service opportunities that the Community Service Club offers.  The service program in the Upper School will undergo significant changes in the 2016-17 school year. Stan Moor, the community service coordinator in the Upper School, will be retiring at the end of this year. Moor has built up an extensive community service program in his tenure.

“I am the school’s first service council coordinator, and I have a strong sense of accomplishment about our active community service program,” said Moor. “It’s great to see students understanding that going out into the community is a really important thing.”

Moor leads the students in AGAPE tutoring, visiting the William Breman Jewish home, tutoring at Drew Charter School through the Math and Science club, and in carrying out numerous other initiatives and drives during the year.

“I think that my favorite project has been Habitat for Humanity, which everyone knows about,” said Moor. “This fall will be the 25th year that we have built a house with students from Lovett, Pace, Marist, and Woodward.”

Senior Evelyn Gould is a big part of why the Service Council has flourished.

“I am the head female prefect of the Service Council,” said Gould. “If someone wants to do a project having to do with service, the Service Council are the people they go to.”

Going forward, the Service Council will be combined with the Service Learning Leadership Council. SLLC focuses on service in an academic setting and approves grants to support student initiatives.

“Right now SLLC and the Service Council are kind of doing the same thing,” said Moor. “Since I am retiring, we thought it might be time for us to combine these.”

Callie Crabb, the program manager for the Glenn Institute and the head of the SLLC, agrees with Moor.

“They have been addressing service from different perspectives, but in similar ways,” said Crabb. “We wanted to take this opportunity to create a more robust program that has a better-developed leadership structure.”

Crabb will supervise this newly formed Service Corps. The mission of this team of student leaders will be to design, fund, promote and implement curricular and extracurricular service activities initiated by council members, fellow students, and faculty. The club’s mission is as follows: “We promote service that is sustainable, meaningful, educational, and beneficial to both our community partners and our volunteers. The members of this team will develop skills in both leadership and philanthropy and will be role models in their community.”

Applications have already been distributed to freshmen and sophomores. A committee that includes the school principal, deans, counselors, grade chairs, and the council and peer-leader advisors will select the Service Corps members. Crabb sees a strong connection between the two councils.

“My vision is that there is major opportunity in combining SLLC and the Service Council,” said Crabb. “The people on the grant board will get some direct contact with service, while the Community Service Club will get to see service from an academic side.”

Students put significant work put into the Service Council and SLLC and have created a tradition of leadership that is prominent throughout the two organizations.

“The best part of it is that I have been a part of the Community Service Club since I was a freshman, so I have seen all those people go through and have that leadership role,” said Gould. “Now I am a senior and I get that role. I really enjoy tutoring the AGAPE kids and the relationships that I get to build with them over a four year period.”

Gould has participated in many other projects over her high school career, including Project OpenHand, the Jewish home, and the Boys and Girls Club.

“Service is my number one commitment, and that can be a lot sometimes especially with school and sports,” said Gould. “But the club has really been a community to me, it’s full of people who are really passionate about service.”

Although Gould admits the high workload, she still praise the club and its purpose.

“I would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone,” said Gould. “We need more sophomores for leadership positions, so y’all should come out.”

Moor agrees that the workload can be tiresome and is looking forward to retiring.

“I will be doing some sleeping and some volunteering,” said Moor. “I have also been very active in the Latin American Association, and I plan on visiting once a week.”