Commitment to Community

Describe your commitment to your community through service-oriented activities including volunteer work, civic responsibilities, and other group activities.

Growing up, my parents were always incredible examples of what service to others looks like. My dad was president of Sertoma, a service organization, and would often take me with him to 6 AM meetings and weekend service projects. My mom was always the first to offer to help clean someone’s house, give a ride to a doctor’s appointment, or pick up the neighbors’ kids from school, expecting nothing in return. Thanks to this model, service has always been one of my core values. Prior to working in education, my career goal was to work in the nonprofit sector. Even since becoming a teacher, I have looked to incorporate this value into my role in whatever way I can. Two of my big community commitments are through my role as Interact Club Sponsor at McLain and serving as a Board Member for Kendall Whittier, Inc., a local emergency food pantry. 

I became the Interact Club sponsor my second year at McLain. My goal was to create an opportunity for students to build relationships while doing good for the community. Over the past four years, we’ve had almost 100 students participate in Interact through club meetings, field trips, or volunteer opportunities. We’ve been able to provide over 40 service hours a year by partnering with ten different organizations around Tulsa.

On any given Saturday, you can usually find me with students doing a service project around the city. We have inventoried and packaged medical supplies to be sent to areas in need, such as Ukraine and West Africa. We’ve collected and sorted food drive donations for John 3:16. We’ve made birthday cards for residents of Murdock Villa, a housing establishment for adults with disabilities. We’ve planted shrubs along the intersection of 56th and N. Peoria with Up With Trees. These are just a few of the many ways that Interact Club has sought to make a difference in our community. Additionally, every service opportunity that I plan is shared with the Interact Club of Union High School, allowing McLain to build a partnership across the city. This has also allowed our scholars to meet and regularly interact with students who they may not have otherwise known.

Each year, the Rotary Club sponsors students from McLain High School to send to RYLA, a four-day overnight leadership camp. In 2023, I attended RYLA as a chaperone. While I had already been involved with Interact for years at that point, and considered myself to be “Rotary-adjacent”, this experience allowed me to form strong relationships with Rotarians from all over Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. Additionally, I was able to see firsthand the transformative experience that RYLA provided for my students. Teenagers who went in on the first day shy and reserved came home outspoken and ready to talk to strangers. I was so grateful to be able to witness that transformation happening firsthand with my students. Attending RYLA also allowed me the ability to better communicate its impact with potential campers, allowing us to extend that impact to more students.

The most meaningful project that I believe the Interact Club has undertaken is our school wide recycling project. Started this year with a brand new group of Interactors, we have partnered with the Metropolitan Environmental Trust and Friends of the M.e.t. to divert recyclables from the landfill. This past semester, our club ran a pilot program in ten classrooms to collect and track recycling and feedback before scaling up our program. My students were responsible for creating signage for the bins, as well as sorting, weighing, and collecting recycling each week. At the end of our four week pilot program, our club had collected over 100 pounds of recycling. This semester, we are scaling up to include 40 more recycling bins in classrooms and common areas around the school. This has been an incredibly meaningful experience for myself and the students, as it has an immediate and visible impact on the school community.

To say that this club changed me for the better would be an understatement. Over the past four years, this group has been one of the most meaningful parts of my job. I’ve also been able to build a wonderful partnership with Rotarians in our community. Working alongside my students to make positive change has given me some of my most favorite memories as an educator. 

While I’m very involved within the school community, I always feel like I could be doing more. In 2022, I joined the board of Kendall Whittier, Inc. (KWI), an emergency food pantry and community garden, as a board intern through TYPROS’ Get On Board program. This experience showed me the ins and outs of board membership and gave me a whole new perspective on the nonprofit sector. After my year as a board intern, I was invited to join KWI as a full board member and recently was voted in as the secretary of the board. As a resident of the Kendall Whittier neighborhood, I was drawn to this organization because of its emphasis on community support. Over the years, I’ve been able to be a part of the strategic planning and fundraising for this organization, helping to ensure that anyone who needs food in the area is able to receive it. We have partnerships with many schools and organizations in the Kendall Whittier neighborhood, and this experience has allowed me to connect with community members from all walks of life. 

At the same time, I realized how much overlap there was between the organization and my role at McLain. Many of my students live in the Kendall Whittier neighborhood, making them stakeholders in the mission of the organization. I looked for ways to bridge the two roles, often advocating for my McLain community and finding opportunities to get my students involved with KWI. Multiple times, I have taken my students in Interact Club to KWI’s Tipton Community Garden to assist with building structures, leveling out flower beds, or general garden maintenance. While we’re there, I always hold a discussion about the organization and the importance of community involvement and volunteers.

In conclusion, there are a lot of ways in which community service ties into my role as an educator. Whether it be in the extracurriculars that I run or in the content that I teach, I make sure to center community and the importance of advocacy in all that I do. I believe that is one of the most important lessons that I can impart to my students.