On Oct. 17, hundreds of Prince Charles Secondary School students descended upon the community for an afternoon. What would normally be cause for concern was in fact the exact opposite. Students were out of classes for PCSS’s first Community Involvement Day, whereupon Creston’s youth volunteered for one of many different options around town. Some cleaned up Balancing Rock Trail in West Creston, some organized books at the Creston and District Public Library. My group was at our local Pet Adoption and Welfare Society (PAWS), where we filled gopher holes, cleaned out kennels and helped with other tasks.
Not only did the event provide free labor for the community but it also contributed to our school atmosphere. Groups consisted of students from all grades, something that doesn’t happen too often, and it can be important for younger students to observe the older ones (or at least the better behaved ones) as role models. For Grade 8s especially, higher grades have a duty to demonstrate proper behavior and how students should act. It also introduced many to the prospect of volunteering. I have heard a few peers expressing interest in returning to the places they had helped at in the future, which is spectacular.
Perhaps my favorite outcome of that day was hearing later that two of my group actually returned to PAWS, both of them adopting an animal. Considering the entire day was pulled off without issue and having heard nothing but positive feedback, I’m considering this Community Involvement Day a success, and hopefully it is the first of many.
— RYLAN LAVALLEE