Great Students Become Winners

Appleton North High School senior Matt McDaniel didn’t expect to win an award for doing the activity he’s passionate about.

McDaniel, who spends his Saturdays volunteering at the Wind River Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, was among the first round of students to receive the Appleton Education Association’s Great Schools Community Service Award. The Appleton Secretaries and Clerical Association and the Educational Assistants Association are also active in the program.

As a volunteer, McDaniel assists staff at Wind River with injured animals. He’s also trained to educate the public about owls, falcons and birds that are on the endangered species list.

McDaniel began his work at Wind River because he needed to complete a four-hour community service project for Connie Roop’s environmental science class. Roop encouraged him to go to Wind River because she knew how much he enjoyed working with nature. McDaniel enjoyed the experience so much he continued to volunteer even after his class requirement was met.

Now McDaniel spends six hours each weekend at the rehabilitation center.

“I knew he’d be perfect,” Roop said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see someone matched with something they’re so passionate about so early on.”

As a winner, McDaniel received a T-shirt with a Great Schools logo printed on it; his school will display a poster featuring him; and he’ll be recognized at a banquet for winners at the end of the school year. Fox Cities Newspapers also printed his picture and an article about him.

“After my picture was in the paper, everyone saw it and mentioned it to me,” McDaniel said. “That was really cool.”

Three winners each month
Educators, parents or adult friends are encouraged to nominate students for dedicating time to service projects that benefit the community. One student from each school is chosen as a school winner each month and receives a Great Schools T-shirt. The names of the school winners are then forwarded to a three-member selection committee, which chooses one elementary, middle and high school student to receive the Great Schools Community Service Award every month. The selection committee includes one person each from the AEA, Appleton Secretaries and Clerical Association, and the Educational Assistants Association.

Students only have to follow one rule to be eligible for the Great Schools Community Service Award: Their service project can’t be a school requirement.

WEAC grant helped launch program
The program has its roots in the spring of 2000, when WEAC awarded the AEA a Great Schools grant to help fund an innovative idea.

AEA President Dianne Lang wanted to reward students who volunteer in their communities. “We wanted a way to get our name out and involve kids doing something positive,” she said.

AEA members found sponsors for the program and began to publicize it with posters, e-mails and fliers that were distributed throughout the district.

Fox Cities Newspapers offered to print stories about the winners each month. It is also co-sponsoring the spring banquet to honor winners, their parents and the community service agencies where the students worked.

Reaching out
Stephanie Malaney, vice president of the Appleton Education Association, chairs the selection committee that names award winners each month. She said students who have been nominated for Great Schools Community Service Awards get involved in the community in a variety of ways.

Some examples:

• Houdini Elementary 5th-grader Molly Austreng won the award for her work with the Grand Chute Leos Club, a youth community service group affiliated with the Lions Club. As the youngest member of the group, she has participated in projects for Adopt a Family, Early Intervention, Christmas Party and the Pierce Park Hayride.
  
• Appleton West High School junior Kristen Eckes was recognized for visiting residents at a local nursing home. She has also been involved in several fundraising projects that benefited charities.
  

Other students have worked for the Salvation Army or helped with rummage sales and dog washes for charity.

But for Matt McDaniel, winning the award was just icing on the cake.

Through his work with Wind River, he’s discovered that he’d like to pursue a career working with wildlife. After graduation, he’ll donate a second day every week to the center.

He’s gone above and beyond his class assignment, said Roop.
“Matt has learned about science, networked with people who have similar interests and helped the community,” she said.

Posted February 8, 2002