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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Service-oriented Youth: Amy Harmer and Brett Sims, both 13, attend Rolling Hills Middle School and recently received awards from the Miracle Mile/Campbell Optimist Club for their community service work.
Two Campbell student volunteers receive Optimist Club youth awards
Rolling Hills Middle eighth-graders Harmer and Sims are honored
By Amy Jenkins
The Miracle Mile/Campbell Optimist Club, along with five other Bay Area Optimist Clubs, presented awards to 54 outstanding high school and middle school students in a ceremony in Cupertino Nov. 8. The students received plaques for their participation in community service, as part of the Optimist Club's annual Youth Appreciation Week.
Eighth-graders Amy Harmer and Brett Sims were chosen for the Optimist Youth Award by the faculty at Rolling Hills Middle School. Harmer, the school's student body president, is involved with various activities in the school and her church, she said. She recently participated in a program with her church that made bears for homeless children. The student council is raising money for children on the East Coast and holding a food drive to make turkey baskets for underprivileged families in the community.
"Lots of the community service we do at the school helps needy families because of the bad economic situation," Harmer said. "We are trying to aid people whose families go to this school so that it makes the school a safe place to be, and if we can help our community, we help our classmates live a better life."
Sims often volunteers at Forest Hill Elementary School, where he and other Rolling Hills students help run school fairs, bring students treats, sing songs and read books to the elementary-school children. He also has helped set up tables for bake sales at his school, he said.
Both Harmer and Sims are involved in a group at the school called Natural Helpers. The 36 students in the group--with at least one representative from each grade--are involved in peer counseling and community service, where members go to rest homes and elementary schools. The helpers also sit down with students who are having problems and help resolve the conflict.
"Students are chosen who are good at conflict resolution and stay a peer counselor throughout their time at the school," said Mary Scharmer, school counselor and leader of Natural Helpers. "The kids that are chosen are from a big mix of kids; they are not just the popular kids."
The Optimist Club is an international organization with 117,000 members and 3,500 clubs worldwide that has observed Youth Appreciation Week since 1957. Optimist clubs are the fourth-largest service club organization in the world and are involved in mentoring children or doing "what they can to bring out the best in kids," said David Melanson, communications manager and editor of the Optimist International publication.
"This week is to congratulate kids because a lot of times youth are given a negative connotation," Melanson said. "In reality, kids are doing great things in the classroom, in the community and in sports."
Two students from participating schools were chosen based on their involvement in the school and community service by principals and administrators at their schools. Thompson was in charge of reviewing the biographies and applications filled out by the students and presenting them with plaques at the ceremony.
Sims and Harmer said the school has many activities and programs that encourage students to get involved in community service.
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Campbell, California
