As organizations across campus begin to wind down this year’s activities and prepare for the upcoming year, the Phillips Academy Community Service Office last week selected 26 new students to lead its major programs for the 2003-2004 academic year. Matt Garza ’04, Susannah Gund ’04, and Jenny Wong ’04 will be serving as next year’s General Coordinators for the Academy’s community service program. Along with overseeing all of the service projects, Garza identified three primary goals that he hopes to accomplish for the upcoming year, including increasing the amount of information available online, rewriting and revamping Spanish 430, which works closely with the Lawrence Family Development Charter School, and organizing a book fair for children in Lawrence. Among the more recent additions to Andover’s assortment of community service projects is the Addison Art Club, a bi-weekly program that encourages students to develop a greater appreciation for art. Because the Art Club is a fairly new program, its size still remains small. However, coordinator Ali Schouten ’04 anticipates growth of the program as students become more aware of it. Another program that will be welcoming new student leaders next year is ARC, designed to build meaningful relationships between Andover students and special needs children in the surrounding community. As Ryan Chapoteau ’04 and Jenn Vanecek ’04 prepare to serve as next year’s program coordinators, they hope to “extend interest in the program into more of the community” and to “help make Tuesday night at ARC a fun experience for all participants,” according to Chapoteau. Also joining this year’s student coordinators is Laurie Ignacio ’04, who will serve as the first student coordinator for another one of Andover’s newest service programs, the Center for Global Justice. Aided by an Abbot Grant received last spring, the center aims to serve as an academic resource for students seeking information about social issues around the world. Taking over leadership at Bread Loaf Pen Pals and the Bread Loaf Writing Workshop will be Alanna Hughes ’04, Jen Graham ’04, and Garret Kirk ’04. In Pen Pals, Andover students pair up with children from South Lawrence East School and correspond with them about various topics through writing, helping to familiarize the third-graders with the proper letter format. Similarly, the Writing Workshop allows Andover students to help the same group of third-graders from Lawrence develop writing skills through poetry, artwork, and creative expression. The Andover Chinese Cultural Outreach will be welcoming Alvin Yu ’04 and Winnie Tsang ’04 as its new student coordinators for the upcoming year. The program matches Andover students studying the Chinese language with American families that have recently adopted Chinese children, in the hope of improving communication within the adoptive family. Sophie McCoy ’04 will be coordinating Music for Life for next year. Participants in the program perform musical pieces at local nursing homes and hospitals, hoping to enhance the lives of the elderly they entertain. Participants in Theater Troup can expect another exciting experience next year under the leadership of Taylor Allbright ’04. By directing a theater workshop for nearby children, the program aims to make a positive impact on the life of the elementary students who participate. As Connie Chao ’04 accepts the position as coordinator of Senior Net/Technology, a program designed to introduce senior citizens to technology and the Internet, she says that her primary goal for the upcoming year is to “create some kind of a lesson plan that will allow us to move more smoothly from week to week.” Jacqueline Latina ’04 and April Warren ’04 will be serving as next year’s coordinators for the Science Club for Girls, a program that seeks to develop an interest in science for nearby girls. Discussing her goals for the future, Warren stated, “I’d like to see more involved activities and hands-on experiments in the upcoming year.” Andover’s popular World Games project will continue this year under the leadership of Su Zhu ’05. Volunteers for this project teach a variety of games, including chess and mancala, to children from Lawrence. Other students that will be accepting leadership position for community service projects include Rohit Acharya ’04 for the Academy Manor Nursing Home; David Tomich ’04, for EMARC Swimming; June Gordon ’04 and Emma Sussex ’04 for OXFAM; Edgar Perez ’04 for Project V.O.I.C.E.; Katerina DeHart ’04 for Service Saturdays; Laura Sciuto ’05 for SIS; and Justin Cahill ’04 for Youth Explorations in Science.
