Servathon: Making a Difference

Rosie Shin

Holding the boxes of gardening tools and paintbrushes, the juniors waited in front of the white tables at school. Excited murmurs buzzed around them as they listened to their sponsors’ instructions. Catching every single word flowing from the sponsors’ mouths, the juniors could not stand still at the thought of finally starting their class project.

As a tradition, the juniors create an event at the start of the year in which they participate in activities to serve the community: Servathon. Through the class Servathon, the juniors raise money to reach their specific goal for Senior Sneak. On this special occasion, they have the rare opportunity to skip school and instead serve the communities outside.

Before the juniors got in the vans, the sponsors divided them into five subgroups and assigned them to five different locations When the Juniors arrived at the parks,
overgrown grasses, mossy benches, and peels of paint greeted the Juniors. Every part of the park needed improvement. Starting from gardening to painting, the juniors worked hard in cleaning the area. They planted several trees and bushes, raked up leaves, and scraped paint from the seesaw and swings.

In the midst of their service project, the weather decided to play a trick on them. From the bright sun scorching their skins, it started raining cats and dogs. Despite the rain, the juniors continued to work on their tasks. Rushing around the park, they tried to get as many parts of the playground and park cleaned up; however, it poured more heavily. As the rain disturbed their project, the juniors ran to look for shelters. After the rain eased down a little, the juniors started on their activities again to finish what was left. Even in the sudden downpour, the juniors
did not let the weather be an obstacle in completing their service project.

As Ashley Kim (11) said, “ I liked the little acts that happened during the heavy rain, holding umbrellas over for each other, offering to take each other’s work, and just looking out for each other.”

Fortunately, the rain stopped midway through and allowed the juniors to finish scraping and painting the park railings and poles. Painting the park was a long and tedious process, requiring lots of time and effort. To keep each other entertained, the juniors smeared paint on each other’s shirts and faces. After finishing all the given tasks, the juniors stood proudly and admired their masterpieces. Some of them took photos to compare the before and after, capturing once again another treasurable memory.

Although the juniors felt exhausted and worn out at the end of the day, they left the parks with feelings of accomplishment. Despite the harsh weather, they felt proud to be able to contribute in serving the community through these small acts. As Courtney Soon (11) said, “Even though our acts were really small, it felt good when a woman who lived directly in front of the playground came over to us and offered us her hose to help clean up ourselves."

Through the Servathon, the juniors not only served the community but also created treasurable memories as a class together.