Kudos to Teens

Just a quick note to say how awesome teeangers can be when they band together for a good cause. Muskogee High School STUCO sponsor, Michele Hofschulte, put together the 2nd Annual Dodge Ball Tournament for Charity held this week in the MHS gym. Admission was 3 cans of food or $3. The proceeds were donated to the Muskogee Food Pantry.

All over the state and nations teens join together on such projects to help their communities. Since Hurricane Katrina, the desire to help others has risen among teens. 59% volunteer consistently and others volunteer episodically, up tremendously from 1989 statistics.

Especially important is offering the opportunity for economically disadvantaged youth to volunteer. A correlation between volunteering, civic pride, and college success among disadvantaged youth has been shown in the research project done by the Corporation for National and Community Service. You can read the report here:

http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/06_1203_volunteer_growth.pdf

Baby Boomers have volunteered at rates higher than any other generation. As they age, it will be imperative to have younger people step up to continue America's long history of the service ethic, noted as far back as de Toqueville. Developing that sense of community is the responsibility of both parents and the schools. Kudos to adults and teens who see a need in the community and fill it.