Clearwater Xtreme Teen Volunteers Program

The Clearwater Xtreme Teens impacted the community of Prince George’s County through their dedicated efforts to support the environment. Last year, 104 Xtreme Teen Volunteers contributed more than 3,600 hours to meet the needs of the community.

The Xtreme Teen Volunteers understood that the community needs to work together to help save our environment. They also realize the need for teens to be role models to their peers so citizens can begin getting involved with their community before they are adults.

The Xtreme Teen Volunteers have gained an appreciation of wildlife and their natural habitats as they safely care for and handle reptiles, mammals, amphibians, owls, hawks and other resident animals of Clearwater Nature Center. They also monitor, maintain, and record information for natural trail systems in the Adopt-A-Trail Program. In addition, the group supports Naturalists in their efforts to provide environmental education to all ages during programs and events. Finally, Xtreme Teen Volunteers gain knowledge and appreciation of environmental sciences and wildlife conservation through participation in the Bluebird Monitoring Program, Weed Warriors Program, wetland restoration projects, and river clean-ups.

The Xtreme Teen Volunteers faced a specific challenge during the 3rd annual Clearwater Nature Fair, which is an event that promotes environmental stewardship and awareness through innovative educational programs and activities. This event attracts more than 1,000 visitors annually, and during this particular year there were other special events occurring during the county on the same day. This pulled staffing resources to other locations and left the Xtreme Teen Volunteers with less than optimum staff to handle a crowd this size.

The staff trained more than forty teen volunteers from the program in wetlands, plants, reptiles, invertebrates and much more. Many of the teen volunteers from Oxon Hill High School were guiding ponies, talking to the public about fossils and a wide assortment of environmental subjects. Other volunteers were able to assist by caring for animals and presenting live animal shows.

On this day, the Xtreme Teen Volunteers were instrumental in educating the public and giving hundreds of people positive experiences that resulted in making the 3rd annual Clearwater Nature Fair a success.

Through the years, the Xtreme Teen Volunteers have grown and continued to develop their leadership skills through service. They have exceeded their own expectations and had fun doing it! The Xtreme Teen Volunteers have obtained valuable work ethics, environmental education and interpretation skills, and positive experiences working as a team. Overall, it is a challenge for Clearwater to find teens who want to clean animal cages, walk through muddy creeks with twenty first grade students, or dig up bugs for insect programs as volunteers. Whether they were cleaning riverbeds or monitoring bluebird populations, the dedicated service of the Clearwater Xtreme Teen Volunteers is appreciated by the residents of Prince George’s County, MD.

Santino Rosanova

Santino Rosanova was a high school senior at DeMatha Catholic High School in 2007 when he began looking for a way to fulfill his volunteer service requirements for graduation. He looked in his community and found areas that could improve services to the residents of Hyattsville. This led to a weekly service project that still continues today.

Santino identified a lack of social contact with the senior and disabled population in this area in Prince George’s County.

Friendship Arms is a 150 unit apartment building of subsidized housing. The residents of this building face daily challenges that are not often pleasant. The greatest challenge has been to engage the male residents of the building. Santino decided on the simple approach and committed to two-hour visits with the residents twice a week.

Santino’s efforts have been met with overwhelming acceptance. Twice a week, male residents of the building meet in a common area and enjoy each other’s company. They play cards, checkers and dominos.

Santino and the men bond and challenge their skills at the various table games. What has happened since the inception of this project is truly wonderful. The men laugh with each other; they discuss sports, politics and other world issues. Santino has brought these men out and engaged them in life.

Daniel Richards, the Resident Services Coordinator for the building, has consistently praised Santino for his dedication. Mr. Richards has noted that long after Santino leaves for the day, the residents linger and continue with the game) and continue to talk.

Santino has built a level of trust amongst a population that is often quite skeptical. It is because of that trust Santino was tackled with re-designing the community work-out room. By moving tread mills to face windows, creating a weight lifting area and really thinking about making the room more efficient, Santino has created a fully functional space for residents.

Santino has been successful in recruiting others to join with him by bringing fellow students on his visits. He has make special efforts to address issues of diversity and bridging generation, economic and social gaps.

If attitude makes the difference between getting tasks done and making them fun, Santino is the epitome of great attitude. He inspires his peers and those around him to make a positive impact on his community. He has created a model service project for high school students to follow.

Santino enjoys the strong support of his family, team mates and the extended family of Hyattsville residents. Santino’s innovative approach to leadership and meeting community needs resulted in him being nominated for the Prince George’s County 2008 Volunteer of the Year Award.

Rachel Moore

Rachel Moore has been volunteering at the Red Cross for six years. She has contributed ninety-six hours each month every June, July and August and twenty hours weekly during times of disaster like the February 2007 tornado, the November 2007 tornado, Hurricane Katrina and more.

Rachel’s activities have been centered on the Disaster Services program. Her duties have included serving meals from the Emergency Response Vehicles, responding to home fires with the Disaster Action Team Members and working as the copy person. The latter duty can be tedious during times of disaster, but it is extremely important. Rachel has also represented the Red Cross chapter and community disaster preparedness events and performed clerical work for the client services program.

Rachel has assisted individuals impacted by disasters recover from their traumatic experience. She has also performed key duties that allow staff and other volunteers perform their job so that client’s needs can be met.

Beginning her volunteering at her own American Red Cross at the age of ten, Rachel is always willing to help and has become a local news junkie—eager to identify potential situations that could impact the community and create a need for the American Red Cross disaster assistance. She shows concern for her community and has been an outstanding ambassador for the Red Cross, assisting them in their mission of aiding those affected by disaster and helping their neighbors prepare for disaster.

Great Kids Explorer Club

In 2001, several community-minded volunteers, experienced in working with neighborhood at-risk children created Great Kids Explorer Club—an innovative early intervention program that targets at-risk students from kindergarten through fifth grade. The group sought to bridge the gaps they saw between the efforts of schools and parents and to address ongoing issues that impeded the success of the community’s children, especially the low income ones.

The goal was to develop a Volusia County net that would provide a sanctuary for children, helping them overcome their academic and personal challenges. To serve children in a way that creates and nurtures a desire to fully appreciate the value of education, and to motivate them to strive for their personal best. Great Kids takes a ‘holistic’ approach, focusing not only on academic improvements, but also on nurturing and mending the hearts of children, recognizes that each child has special talents, gifts, and a purpose. Knowing this, they believe that children don’t have to “fall through the cracks,” and that providing at-risk children with a “hand-up” helps not only them, but also their families, our schools, and ultimately our communities.

The organization has grown from a single site serving 20 some children to serving 187 last year in five program sites. Today Great Kids has a volunteer team of 70 people and serves as the catalyst in developing ‘community partnerships’. Great Kids is the lead agency and provides all the educational materials, supplies, training, procedures, leadership and monitoring. They collaborate with several of Volusia County schools through a unique partnership that allows them to work directly with the schools, receiving school input and guidance. Each partnering school’s Guidance Counselor oversees the referral and enrollment process and meets with Great Kids’ staff to develop an ‘Individual Student Plan’. The hosting church donates classroom space, snacks and gives financial support to the Great Kids organization. Volunteers are recruited from the hosting church as well as throughout the community utilizing such organizations as Kiwanis Clubs and local retired teacher’s organizations. All volunteers are well trained and are given a criminal background check. Other partners include organizations like The Daytona Beach Junior League and several other local businesses that work together during the Holiday season to provide food baskets, new clothes and toys.

Today, Great Kids continues to help Volusia County’s young children develop self-respect, a desire to do their best and the ability to deal positively with difficult issues they face now and in the future. The children earn better grades, become more confident and are better equipped to make healthy decisions. This is accomplished through positive reinforcement of good behavior, group activities and tutoring. The overarching education project is called “Bridges to Success” and is composed of two different programs that provide 2-6 hours of free assistance, including transportation, depending on the need of the child.

Life Skills Enrichment (mentoring) focuses on behavior and listening skills, while creating and nurturing a desire to fully appreciate the value of education. It is designed to motivate the children to strive for their personal best in all areas of their lives and to become independent learners. Study and life skills are taught in addition to small group tutoring. Moreover, this component addresses behavioral foundations for success for children who struggle in school due to negative behavior issues, lack of motivation and lack of study skills.

One-on-One Tutoring is offered to children who are failing or are performing below grade level in reading or math—two core subjects critical to academic success. This program provides each 1st-5th grade child 45 minute sessions of one-on-one tutoring, computer lab and small group study skill and homework instruction. In tandem, both programs work to improve the child academically, socially and emotionally.

The results are outstanding. Over the last three years Great Kids has increased its enrollment by 59%, 96% of the children served earned a final “C” or better in five or more subjects, 71% improved in behavior/personal development and 90% graduated to the next grade. In 2007, the Great Kids volunteer team earned the prestigious “Outstanding 2007 Volunteer of the Year” award in the category of Outstanding Education Volunteer Group. In addition, the organization received the “President’s Volunteer Service Award” from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

Great Kids has also received proclamations from the cities of Holly Hill and Ormond Beach declaring them to be a vital part of the community. Plans for the future include becoming consultants and using Great Kids as a ‘model’ for the development of other Great Kids community programs. Together, we do make a difference building a brighter future for our children.