Editor
More than 500 students spent two and a half hours on April 28 volunteering as part of the fifth annual Milford Junior High School day of community service.
Parents and teachers chaperoned the 540 Milford seventh grade students as they spread out across the community helping local businesses, park services, nursing homes and residents with various projects.
“We had an excellent day,” said math teacher Becky Parker. She is also the Builder’s Club advisor and planned the event.
The students went to 32 locations, where they did a lot of landscaping, in addition to scraping off some paint and making friendship bracelets. Some students had one-on-one conversations with nursing home residents when they interviewed them to put together a bulletin board of responses.
“I want them to know that they can make a difference in their community through not just making donations but through service,” Parker said.
She added that she hopes students discovered that just spending time with people can make a huge difference.
A few groups of students put in some work at the Miami Meadows Park, including landscaping work on the Spirit of ‘76 Memorial Park and planting a tree for March of Dimes.
Chris Lohrman, chair of the Spirit of 76 park committee, hopes that the improvements to the park will encourage more visitors.
In addition, he hopes that the students who came were able to learn more about America’s history because he believes it is important for them to understand.
“I think it’s absolutely wonderful that they’re here seeing the park and that they’re improving the park,” Lohrman said.
Conner Wheat was part of the group that planted a tree for March of Dimes. He also read a poem during the dedication ceremony held that day.
Wheat enjoys doing work for others, he said, and he is glad that he was able to plant a tree because it is good for the planet.
Jill Hoffman, community director for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky division and the lead for the Clermont County March for Babies, is honored that planting a tree to honor babies who didn’t survive was chosen as a project this year.
“It means a great deal,” she said.
The tree is planted very close to the beginning of the Clermont County March for Babies course and Hoffman is excited that the tree will be part of the walk.
“It turned out great,” she said.
During the dedication, Danielle Thiel, banking center manager at Park National Bank’s Milford office and 2016 March for Babies chair, thanked the students for planting the tree. All the money that March of Dimes raises funds programs that help mothers have full-term babies, she said.
Pastor Wes Duff asked God to comfort mothers who have lost their babies and to bless the tree.
Mohommadieh Kayed is the mother of the Lutfieh family, the 2016 March of Dimes ambassadors. She told attendees about the two babies she lost.
Kayed looks forward to seeing the tree grow, she said.
The service day program has really expanded from the seven sites students went to the first year. The idea came from a middle school conference that some Milford teachers went to, Parker said.
The seven sites were pretty crowded that first year, but Parker has also added sites because she has more students in seventh grade than she used to. She finds sites by reaching out to the Milford Miami Township Chamber of Commerce, the Miami Township Parks Department, local businesses, local nursing homes and local churches.
In the days following the service event, the students will fill out a worksheet about the day, which will also encourage them to pay it forward more. Members of the Builder’s Club also reflected at the May 2 club meeting.
“It was a really fun experience being able to help the community, it may seem like you aren’t doing much because it is fun, but to those we help it can make all the difference in the world,” said Mia Dearing, a seventh grade student.
Lottie Marshall, also a seventh grader, feels that the event made all the students proud of their school.