Over 900 students from Pioneer Career and Technology Center fanned out across Richland County to do community service projects on Friday.
Students and teachers from 14 partner schools participated in various community service projects from painting at schools, cleaning parks, picking up trash, and more.
Emily Oswalt, 18, a senior, was with a group of students who helped clean the downtown Mansfield area around Richland Carrousel and the hill of Main Street.
“It’s good to give back to your community,” she said as she pulled flowers out of the pots which lined the sidewalks on Main Street.
Oswalt studies Early Childhood Education at Pioneer and attends Madison Comprehensive High School also. Other students were from Mansfield Senior High School.
Pioneer English teacher Mary Cosker and Performing Arts teacher Anne Kurtzman corralled the students while also helping with the work. Cosker said this is the second year Pioneer students have participated in a community service day.
“We did it last spring and it was very successful,” she said. “We like to give back to our community and let people in the community know we care about our community.
“We also think it’s important to instill that value in our children.”
Cosker said the day of service is a good opportunity for the youth to interact with the public.
The students who attend Pioneer go to a lab half of the day. Lab include programs like cosmetology, criminal justice, and early childhood education. The other part of the day students are in academic classes, Cosker said.
Senior Julian Papania, 17, and other students swept floors and helped clean the former Eagles building located on the bottom of Main Street hill.
The spacious building is filled with history. The cornerstone was laid in 1912. There is a large dance hall on the third floor with elevated spaces on either end for a band and a viewing area. The building cost $30,000 and was a “speakeasy” during the prohibition era of the 1920s.
Papania participated in the day of community service last year at the Carrousel and the Friendly House.
“We want to represent Mansfield and Pioneer and show the community that we are hard workers and that we care about our community,” he said.
Pioneer educational aide Joanne Blay helped the students clean the Eagles building. She and the students were impressed with the building’s stature and history.
As a former member of the Young Marines, Tayler Boebel, 18, was no stranger to community service. He studies Homeland Security at Pioneer.
“I had over 300 hours of community service last year,” he said.
Boebel said that by attending Pioneer he was able to get his credits up to graduate. He said he appreciates the support from the teachers and that the school is different than public schools.
“It’s a very mature environment,” Boebel said. “It’s not like other high schools.”
Once students graduate from Pioneer they will have credits toward college or a skill they can use in the workforce.
Students also gathered at Raemelton Therapeutic Equestrian Center to help clean the barn where horses are housed and the indoor arena area.
Medical Technology teacher Dawn Roberts supervised students while raking leaves.
“I think the students are having fun today,” she said. “This has been a nice place to work.”
Ethan Windsor, 16, studies Webpage Design and Animation at Pioneer. The Lexington High School junior said he enjoyed cleaning at Raemelton.
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” the 16-year-old said. “I like helping the community.”
Donavan Trimble, 16, said he enjoyed helping but was really excited about being out of school for the day.
“It’s really not that cold out today,” he said. “It’s a nice day to help out.”
Tara Corrigan, director of operations at Raemelton said she appreciated the help from the students and teachers. Corrigan estimated she would have had to pay $500-$600 for people to do the work the students did.
“They’re raking up a million or more leaves,” she seriously joked. “And we’ll probably have two million more fall.”
Students from the following school districts participated in Pioneer’s Community Service Day: Mansfield Senior, Madison, Ontario, Lexington, Crestline, Shelby, Lucas, Willard.
Officers from Pioneer SkillsUSA – a national organization to assure America has a skilled workforce – organized and facilitated the event. As part of its mission, SkillsUSA promotes community service.
“We want to represent Mansfield and Pioneer and show the community that we are hard workers and that we care about our community,” said Pioneer senior Julian Papania.
