Lacie Jacobson T/TH 2:30

Civic Engagement Project

For my Civic Engagement Project, I wanted to help a few of the schools in my

community. Education is very important to me, and I have had so many opportunities that have

been a result of receiving a good education. The future is being created in the classrooms, and I

wanted to be a part of that in any way I could. I reached out to Copper Canyon Elementary and

West Hills Middle School to see if they needed any help. I first heard back from the middle

school. They are going to be remodeling the school starting in January to move the main offices

to the front of the school; the offices are currently in the center of the building down the main

hallway. This was decided due to the recent increase in school shootings this past year. The goal

is to make anyone who visits the school required to go through the main offices first, and they

will have to be buzzed in; if the office ladies decide the person should not be there, they will not

let them in.

Due to the remodeling, many teachers are having to box up everything in their

classrooms. This is a big job considering how many things are in a school. I talked to a teacher

that I took for biology, about five years ago, to see if she needed any help. She was extremely

relieved when I offered to help out because there is a lot of work to do in the science department.

Not only do they have to box up all of their equipment, but there are a bunch of old textbooks

that need to be surplused. Books are surplused when they are no longer in use, or out dated, and

are sent out so the schools can trade them for newer and up-to-date books. There were probably

thousands of textbooks that needed to be boxed up and sent out.

 I went in to help put around 7:30 A.M. They started me off boxing up textbooks, but I

quickly ran out of boxes to use. We found a few more boxes to fill up, but we were not even

close to clearing out all of the textbooks. Next, they had me grabbing more books that needed to

be surplused out of another classroom. I had to empty about sixteen shelfs of textbooks and place

them on carts. I filled about five carts and I then had to push them to the room where the other

textbooks were being stored. Each cart was over a hundred pounds; I definitely got my work out

for the day in. There was not much for me to do after that point and I still had about a half an

hour left of the required two hours. I finished by organizing the books and doing a few odd jobs

for the science teachers; a few of the things I did were writing numbers on calculators,

straightening, and cleaning. I had to leave around 9:40 A.M. to make it to my 10:00 A.M. class I

had that day. In a way, I was helping to prepare the school to be a safer place.

I recently got a response from the principle and the elementary school, but I will not be

able to go there before this assignment is due. However, I am still going to go and help the

teachers who need it. I have it arranged with the principle that I will let her know the times and

dates that I am available to go in and she will notify the teachers that they can sign up for me to

help in their classroom. These teachers will be able to spend more time one-on-one with their

students by giving me work that they would normally do. I could even be helping the children

individually in subjects that they struggle in.

I felt that my participation in these schools was not only beneficial to me, but also the

school and the students attending those schools. I was being a responsible citizen by helping the

future of this country, the students. My actions were just one of the many steps needed to take to

create a better learning environment in schools where students can feel that they are safe and

have the freedom to learn. I very much enjoyed these experiences, not only because I highly
value the education system, but I also find happiness in the service of others. I hope that by doing

a little good in this world, I can influence younger generations to do the same later in their life;

kind of like a domino effect. Everyone has a right and the freedom to receive a good education,

therefore we cannot, in any way, limit the opportunities that children can receive at school.