Cedar Springs — Members of the Athletic Leadership Council at Red Hawk Intermediate are paying regular visits to Green Acres of Cedar Springs to strengthen community ties by playing bingo, completing puzzles and taking a few turns on the Wii with residents.
The ALC, now in its third year at Red Hawk, is composed of student athletes who join to promote athletics, form friendships and learn lessons about life and leadership through community engagement.
Eighth-graders in attendance during a recent visit said the trips help instill lessons that are valuable both on and off the court or field.
“It’s mainly just to get involved with the community, and to get that interaction with people,” Randy Slocum said. “It builds better character.”
Added Vincent Medendorp: “It’s kind of like a field trip, but we’re kind of trying to get more involved with the community through activities.”
Jeff Myers, eighth-grade English teacher and football coach, said meeting with Green Acres residents is a way for the ALC members to grow and develop.
“One of our ALC goals is to challenge. I challenged them to show leadership outside of school,” Myers said. “On our first visit … our student reps were great at displaying patience, kindness and assistance during the games.”
‘… it helps build a lot of responsibility and life skills, and learning how to interact with people. Right now we’re really on our phones, so I think it’s a good thing to get out and learn how to interact with people and have some valuable life experiences.’
— Morgan Sanders, Red Hawk Intermediate eighth-grader
‘Valuable Life Experiences’
Student Morgan Sanders, who participates in track and cross-country, said there’s much to be learned through the ALC and its outreach work.
“I think it helps build a lot of responsibility and life skills, and learning how to interact with people,” Morgan said. “Right now we’re really on our phones, so I think it’s a good thing to get out and learn how to interact with people and have some valuable life experiences.”
In addition to outreach, the ALC also works to forge bonds between athletes from different sports, and throughout the school as a whole.
“We just try to bring our school together a little bit,” Morgan said, “because we often get kind of separated by groups of kids. We try to unite people over athletics.”
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