Medina High School plans first community service fair on Thursday

Posted 16 September 2013 at 12:00 am

Press release, Medina High School

MEDINA – For many years, students across Orleans County and New York State have completed community service as part of their Participation in Government class. Each school approaches community service differently, based on local needs.

The Medina High School Participation in Government teachers, Mike Pickreign and Todd Bensley, are making plans for the first annual Community Service Fair.

“The Community Service Fair is a way for the students to learn about the opportunities available to them,” Bensley said. “It also gives the organizations a chance to showcase all that they do for the community.”

The idea came out of discussions the two teachers had about making the experience more meaningful for the students and more beneficial for the organizations.

In the past, students needed to complete 20 hours of community service and they could spread it out over several organizations. What the teachers found was that many students would simply do whatever they needed to do to complete the requirement. This often meant taking anything that came along, whether or not the student was really interested in what the organization did.

The students of Medina High School will now be required to complete 10 hours of community service with one organization and do a presentation on their experience.

According to Bensley, the new requirements are meant to accomplish two goals: “First, the students will need to become more vested in the experience because they will need to do a presentation on the organization they work with and their experiences as a volunteer. Second, by giving presentations to their fellow students, they may pique the other students’ interest in offering their services to an organization other than the one they already served.”

The fair will be held at Medina High School on Thursday from 2 to 2:50 p.m. Any non-profit organizations wishing to take part in this opportunity should contact Bensley by the end of today. He can be reached by e-mail at tbensley@medinacsd.org, or by calling 798-2700.