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| About VolunTEENS | About MSSA |
What is your motivation to volunteer? What impact has volunteering made on you? This page is dedicated to sharing the stories of teen volunteers, including recipients of the Michigan Student Service Award (MSSA). Take a moment to learn about teen volunteers in our community, some of the volunteer activities they are passionate about, and their thoughts on volunteering.
- Your Stories
- 2010 MSSA Recipients
- 2009 MSSA Recipients
- 2008 MSSA Recipients
- 2005 - 2007 MSSA Recipients
Kayla Morin, Portage West Middle School
MyStory: I have always wanted to help out in the community, in the world, but finding a consistent volunteer job was increasingly difficult. When I picked up a volunteer catalouge at my school, I was excited, and soon found several places I was interested in volunteering at. I finally chose Bella Terra, a miniature pony farm. It was a perfect match because I could volunteer whenever I was free, and I have now gone there 8+ times. I learned so much in the hours I was there. Trust, relationships, and responsibility with the horses are some of the things I now know better because of volunteering. Excercising and being with the horses made volunteering thouroughly enjoyable. With the fun things came the harder things (which were actually fun, too). Its not easy working out in the heat, or even when its cold, but it was worth it to feel like I made a difference. My volunteering experience is one that I am continuing, and I hope to continue volunteering in some way for the rest of my life.
Isabella Wu, Portage Central High / KAMSC
MyStory: Volunteering through the VolunTEENS program has been an amazing experience for me. It's opened up many doors; for example, I never would've gotten to work in an actual hospital setting, had the program brochure not included a referral to Borgess Hospital's volunteer program. Now, thanks to VolunTEENS, I've worked in the ER there, and it was invaluable for someone interested in medicine. In the past, I've also volunteered at the Portage District Library's Summer Reading Program, Kalamazoo Valley Museum, and Big Brothers Big Sisters A Community of Caring through VolunTEENS. Each of those experiences was as fun and rewarding as the next. I got to help kids learn the joys of reading, create crafts exploring science and discovery, and best of all, partner them with mentors in the community who provide a good role model. I learned about these programs through VolunTEENS, and I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity.
Alison Butler, Gull Lake High School
MyStory: When I first walked into the Croyden Avenue School, I wasn't quite sure what to except. My two friends and I were very excited to start our volunteer experience there, and Aimee Hodges, our supervisor, definitely helped us out and gave us each great positions throughout the school. I worked with kindergarten age autistic children, as well as a few nine-eleven year old children. The teacher and other volunteers that I worked with made me feel very welcome from the beginning, and from the very first day I learned so much. The kids were great - sometimes we'd have our good days and bad days, but they could always amaze me or make me smile. I was sad to leave, but it was definitely an experience that I'll never forget.
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Andrew Elluru In the summer of 2008, I began one the of the most life changing experiences I have ever had the pleasure of partaking in. A good friend of mine - after months of pestering - had convinced me to volunteer at Croyden Avenue Elementary school, which caters to developmentally impaired students. I walked through the two front doors naive, but left with a more directed and decisive sense of character. I have always had a passion for volunteering; I attend volunteer camps, partake in my school's alternative spring break program, and aid in various school functions. However, these service projects were merely means to an end. Although I was happy while doing them, the community projects had more meaning to me as a source of service hours. My work at Croyden began the same way. I had merely signed up for what I assumed would be an easy job to add to my total number of recordable hours. My perspective was completely changed the first day. Read more |
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Tamsen Glaser "When someone uses the phrase "community service", the mind immediately jumps to helping with yard work, preparing meals for the homeless, and caring for the elderly. Though I have participated in this form of community service many times through high school and beyond, my mind tends to land on a different sort of service to my community." The afore-mentioned types of community service are exponentially gratifying to both the giver and the receiver, and oftentimes the gift itself. However, in the last couple years of my life, I've discovered my personal form of volunteer work, one that seems to have been designed just for me. Read more |
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Taryn Green For the last five years, I've found a particular joy in volunteering. Many people say volunteering fulfills them, gives them a sense of satisfaction as they give back to the community and while I certainly feel that as well, I honestly just enjoy the work I'm doing and the people I'm doing it with. I have done a variety of things, from teaching at the KAMSC Sizzlin' Summer Science Program, the Air Zoo's summer camps, and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum' s craft days, to selling refreshments and manning booths at carnivals such as Kalamazoo's Woofstock, the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital's Summerfest, and Moorsbridge' s annual Fall Festival. I worked primarily with children as I find teaching to be exceptional. Read more |
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Ashley Hamilton "Service to others is a vital part of my life as a Catholic. I have a duty to assist those who are less fortunate than myself. I find it very important to share my faith with others by displaying the generosity and selflessness that every catholic is called to show." Volunteering has always been a very active part of my life. I have always held it as something that I should do simply because it is the right thing to do. However, I was never able to fully realize what it meant to go above and beyond with community service until high school. My high school has required all students to complete a minimum of 20 hours of service a year, in order to fulfill our catholic obligation to serve others. Read more |
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Jessica Kirklin "Service has always been a large part of my life, even before I could make the decision to volunteer. I've always enjoyed helping people and I believe my mother instilled that in me." As a small child, she would take me with her when she visited elderly people in our parish. I was always very shy and when I was older I felt uncomfortable going, but she said that I made a huge impact in those peoples' lives. I find that fact to be very inspiring and I believe that that is what motivates me to continue my service work. Read more |
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Nicholas Rocha The Kalamazoo Nature Center was where majority of my service hours was completed. This position was first acquired after I worked a few weeks into summer camp. The type of service that I donated involved the energy and hard-work that a normal camp counselor would be required to do. My goal was to encourage the youth about the importance of going outside and to explain the world of nature to them; the more children and teens know about nature the more likely they will respect and protect it. I volunteered often weeks at a time, from 8am-5pm, and assisted counselors with their assigned groups of campers. The community issue that both myself and the other camp counselors at Nature Center worked to fix was the issue of the lost generation. Society today consists of so many technological advances that lend our youth from the beauty and creativity found in nature. Known as the nature-deficit disorder in Richard Lou's famous book, Last Child In The Woods, children of this era do not go outside as compared to the previous generation. Our goal as counselors is to reconnect future generations through knowledge and curiosity of nature. Read more |
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Curtis Austin "My high school experience would not have been the same without my community service." Lessons I learned from volunteering cannot be taught in a classroom. I have gained real-world experience and worked with people in a professional environment similar to what I will face in my years ahead. I have learned about my community and the people in it. I participated in a range of community service activities in high school, including helping at Graduation and Girls on the Run, assisting an elementary school classroom, being an assistant coach for a middle school swim team, and volunteering at a summer science program for young students. One of the more impacting experiences was collecting over 250 Beanie Babies to ship to children in third world countries. I also worked as a greeter and patient escort at Borgess Medical Center, which was a great learning experience. Read more |
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Simon Boehme, Kalamazoo Central "The public services I have provided have made a positive difference in my community. It is my hope that every action I make will accomplish this goal. I intend to give back to my community everywhere I go throughout my entire life." My volunteer experiences cover a wide range of organizations, each experience involved helping people. One specific goal I accomplished was to start the process of bringing a school together. Kalamazoo Central High School has 1,600 students and "Mix It Up!" was designed to bring people together to learn and experience different cultures and meet new people. At Central High School there were many problems, ranging from violence, race issues, and no school pride and I thought dancing would help solve a few of these issues. With the program "Mix It Up!" I helped to start and run, it created a safe environment in which negative actions didn't occur and students had a great time. It is one small step in the right direction for Kalamazoo Central. Read more |
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Kyle Kuzmick "I have for a long time been very involved with volunteering and helping others. I have volunteered with various scout endeavors, and through this basic start I came to simply volunteer for fun and pleasure." I appeared to have developed a natural appetite for volunteering and I could not get enough of it. This has led me to volunteer with several additional organizations: our local library, museum, zoo, and hospital as well as the migrant ministry program of my church. Since entering high school I have accumulated over 1000 volunteer hours. I have developed empathy for those in need. Because of this and other scout accomplishments, I was selected to join the honor society of scouts, the Order of the Arrow. I am extremely active with boy scouts and have earned the highest rank of Eagle Scout, as well as seven Palms beyond that. Each Eagle Palm requires 5 additional merit badges and 3 months of active leadership. I am now giving back to my troop by acting as an assistant scoutmaster, helping the youngest scouts work through the early ranks of scouting. Read more |
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Thomas Ankenbauer "Service to others is an important part of my life. As a Catholic, I am called to assist others, especially the poor, the sick, and the suffering. Jesus' admonition to be a servant to all is part of the foundations of our faith, and I take them seriously." The Catholic Church has long held a strong sense of social justice, whether through charitable aid to the poor or defending the working class. Similarly, my Catholic high school has required all students to complete at least 20 service hours a year, in keeping with the Church's mission. However, because of my own motivation and commitment to living the Catholic faith, I have gone above and beyond the normal requirement. At my school, I have participated in many faith-oriented activities such as altar serving in the Chapel for daily mass and playing the guitar for All-School Masses. By aiding the priests and playing music, I am able to promote the school's goal of creating a faith-filled atmosphere. I also have tutored students in the morning before school in order to help them achieve their goals. My work in promoting the school at events for prospective students and at freshman orientation has helped improve our small community and its overall well-being. Read more |
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Elisa Easley Throughout my high school career at Hackett Catholic Central, I've volunteered more than I could ever imagine: from small events to larger group functions. Some of the larger services I have participated in include volunteering to help clean-up after the Hurricane Katrina natural disaster in New Orleans, Louisiana, for two years, each for a week's time. I have also completed over fifty hours this past summer for Sherman Lake's YMCA Outdoor Center Counselor In Training program where I was responsible for camper supervision, creating two all camp theme days for up to 300 people each, and participating in an all night "Relay for Life" event to raise money for cancer research. Although larger service functions can create bigger and greater outcomes, small activities are just as great and can be closer to the heart. Even just teaching a local scout troop an art project or helping them with an event can really show, not only adults, but children who look up to you, that you care and they may even follow in your footsteps. By giving some of my spare time to people of all ages, I have been able to stress that not just one group or organization needs help, but all need to be addressed upon. Read more |
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Rebecca Farrer "The service I perform for my community does not come in just one or two forms. My family has always told me to help those in need. I try my best to live by this rule. When I see an opportunity to serve others, I need no more motivation." Some activities have their perks, such as those that work with children. During the Lenten season, I help my parish by serving vegetarian dinners on Friday nights. The proceeds of the dinners go to the parish. My jobs include anything from working the cashbox to busing tables. Lenten Dinners at St. Monica are a way of bringing together parishioners. Every year I take pleasure in meeting new people and learning new things from the regulars. I unfortunately will be unable to continue working the dinners in the upcoming years. On my sophomore spring break, many of my classmates and I traveled to Louisiana to aid the victims of the hurricanes. While down South, we gutted the houses and cleaned out rooms of debris. We helped the home owners by saving them money for repairs. Through this experience, I have realized how fortunate I am that I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep on. Read more |
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Nicholas Hess "I have had the privilege of volunteering many hours of service through the Boy Scouts of America and Troop 211 of St. Monica Parish of Kalamazoo." I served as volunteer staff for the Boy Scouts of America's National Youth Leadership Training course for the past four years. I had been a student in the week long course in 2004 and I fell so in love with the program that I signed up to be on the volunteer staff the next year. Staff members spend one weekend a month for six months, and the week before the course begins preparing for the course. During the week of the course, three dozen scouts camp outdoors and learn leadership skills, teamwork and outdoor preparedness. The scouts who attend the course are chosen by the adult leaders of their troops because the scout displays leadership in his troop. In my fourth year on staff, I was asked to be the Senior Patrol Leader, or SPL. The SPL is in charge of the entire course, and has the most responsibility of anyone on staff. Read more |
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Joseph Kavanaugh "Over the course of my high school career I have learned the great value of volunteerism in my community. As an essential part to the existence of many profit and non-profit organizations, I have learned that giving my time and resources to causes can benefit multiple levels of society and has opened my eyes to a world that desperately needs volunteer efforts." In the four years I have been a student I have discovered that there are hundreds of opportunities to volunteer in our community and abroad, opportunities that can be performed to fit individual interests. Considering my gifts in the sciences and leadership, I have been able to uncover volunteer organizations and events that have profited my strengths, including Borgess Medical Center, Everest Academy Camp Kilimanjaro, St. Monica's Church, and Bill Murphy's campaign for election of Kalamazoo District Court Judge. In 2006 I received formal leadership training as a camp counselor through the Legionaries of Christ, working for two weeks at a summer camp. I was responsible for the supervision of fifteen boys aged seven to twelve, organizing games and presenting spiritual and leadership talks. Being accountable 24 hours a day for these children's camp life, challenged my patience and personality. Read more |
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Andrew Martin "I have committed over four hundred hours to the community of Kalamazoo, in the areas of service towards the church, and towards the community." Over the past years I have committed to two organizations and an elderly family member. One of the two organizations was the St Augustine Church; I have given a large amount of service, altar serving and helping the needy. I have been serving about two days a month for the past seven years. The second organization is Milwood little league. Growing up around there, and playing baseball there for 9 years, has shaped my work ethic, and has given me a lot of experience. Every year since I started playing at the little league my family and I have put in a great deal of hours helping out around the fields. From mowing the fields to cleaning up trash, every minute I spent at the little league gave me more and more experience that I could use in life. Read more |
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Mark West "Over the years, and especially in these past four years of high school, I have had the opportunity to provide volunteer service to many different organizations and groups around the greater Kalamazoo area, and even beyond." My favorite place to provide service was first and foremost to my church, St. Monica Parish, in Kalamazoo. At St. Monica, I have spent countless hours altar serving, teaching other people how to altar serve, instructing young third-graders in the Catholic Faith through the St. Monica CCD program once a week for the past two years, and providing a new Mary garden as part of my Eagle Scout Project. On that same note, I have been involved in the Scouting program since the third grade, racking up hours upon hours of service. After I became a Boy Scout, I was elected by the members of my troop to the honor society for Scouts, the Order of the Arrow, which is a service organization. My Eagle Scout project was the culmination of my Scouting service efforts, and with a great deal of help, I spent over three hundred hours planning and carrying out my project, which will have a lasting impact for years to come. Read more |
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Omar Abudayyeh I have enjoyed volunteering for the FIRST Lego League team of middle school students who build robots from Lego Mindstorms and program them to perform specific tasks in competitions. I teach these kids the correct way to fit gears and write programs and watch their excitement upon building a sophisticated functioning robot. I enjoy mentoring middle school students and sparking their interest in engineering. After learning about a new local program designed to mentor underprivileged middle school students, I decided that I wanted to play a part. By helping these kids design and construct race cars and robots, many of them found a potential career choice that they might have never considered without this program. Read more |
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Nathan Bauer Volunteering is a tool that should be utilized to reach people in a community who need help, and desperately require assistance. To simply give my time to others is a gift in itself. Helping others can come in many different forms. Volunteer work is fun and there is always a need for new workers. Seeing the reaction from people being helped, and growing close to them is enough reward to meet my personal needs, and I will not be quitting my volunteer work anytime soon. Read more
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Brett Birch Growing up I was privileged to witness my great-grandmother, Mrs. Suzanne Shepherd, use her leadership skills to help others in need. She used her knowledge and strength to coordinate events, such as family gatherings, church socials and charity events. She was a very strong willed individual who seldom gave into anything that she did not agree with. Her mere presence made you feel secure in the knowledge that what needed to be accomplished would certainly find its way to fruition. She was a great mentor and role model to the younger generation with the realization that they are the future. The lessons Gram taught ranged from making sure family Sunday brunch was held most weekends after church, to reading at the local elementary school, to quietly giving money to someone in need, to volunteering on capital campaigns and numerous other leadership roles too great to list. All of these were done with a sense of duty and pride that she readily passed on to the future, her great-grandchildren. Read more |
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Madison White "I am looking forward to see all that I can accomplish and how much I can grow from all my volunteer work." It has become one of my greatest passions in my high school career to volunteer. I feel my greatest accomplishment in life thus far has been learning to see my struggles and pain not as a curse or punishment, but as a blessing that has taught me to show true compassion and love to every human being. It is this which has motivated me to volunteer in my community and help in any way I can.
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