Nine seniors give back to the community through unique projects

At the beginning of this school year, S.S. Seward seniors Kendall Guerra and Stephanie Reicherter realized that there might be fewer students trying out for the varsity soccer team in the coming years. In an effort to drive more interest in the sport and encourage youth to one day play for the Spartan’s soccer teams, the two worked together on an Individual Student Project (ISP), using their skills to teach the next generation of soccer stars.

Guerra and Reicherter are two of nine students who completed an ISP this year, under the guidance of teacher Barbara Scheibling.

“This is a unique opportunity open only to our seniors,” Scheibling shared. Students elect to be part of an ISP, where they can put their passions into action and give back to their school or community. This yearlong project can be a continuation of a project previous seniors have started and can also be a completely new idea. Students keep a log of their activities and wear a sash at graduation that denotes their accomplishments.

“We advertised a soccer workshop to fifth grade students at Golden Hill,” shared Guerra, whose sibling attends the elementary school. The students also got advice from a local recreation director and had help from two Seward graduates when it came to planning drills and activities.

Guerra and Reicherter say they learned time management and organization skills as well as how to utilize community connections to make events like this happen. Reicherter also drew a connection between the project and her future major: health and fitness science.

Other students used the project as an opportunity to raise money for various causes. Alicia Ward collected can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, Angelina Vargas sold bracelets to raise funds and awareness for the JED Foundation, and Brook Irizarry raised money for Pets Alive in Middletown.

Like Reicherter, Irizarry’s project connects to her future. The current BOCES animal science student will continue her pre-veterinary education at SUNY Cobleskill in the fall. For over six months, Irizarry collected plastic water bottles from the Seward community in boxes across the school, returning the bottles and donating the money to the charity. “I chose Pets Alive because I’ve volunteered for them in the past,” she shared. “They are a no-kill shelter and they take in all animals — cats, dogs, horses, donkeys — literally any animal that needs help.”

Irizarry’s fellow BOCES students Elianna Ford and Karina Zambrano used the ISP opportunity to apply the skills they learned from their digital filmmaking and post-production class. They created a documentary of their senior year, including interviews with seniors and footage from important events. The film will be played at the senior barbeque following graduation rehearsal.

“We want to show what the school and community has done for us in one video and get to showcase that and have it to look back on in the future,” shared Ford. The two hope a senior might create a similar project for their class in the future.

Milo Janata and Derrick You sought to pay it forward, continuing a senior project that they benefited from last year. Janata and You planned a trip to Mount Saint Mary College and the Purple Heart Museum for the junior class.

“For the juniors who haven’t started looking at colleges, this is a great trip to get them familiar with the process,” shared Janata. “I know it was the first college visit for me last year.”

“These projects create a sense of accomplishment for students as they finish their time at S.S. Seward and offer students a way to give back to the community,” added Scheibling.