Mt. Vernon Register-News

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October 15, 2009

WHS SHIELD program a hit

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

WALTONVILLE — Students at Waltonville High School are not only helping each other, but are also learning what it means to help the community.

SHIELD — Students Helping Individuals Evaluate Life Decisions — is now in its second year at the school, and Melissa Szopinski says members of the organization have not only become a pivotal presence in their classmates’ lives, but are also lending a helping hand outside of the district.

The organization was established last year to promote positive peer interaction and to provide peer mediation, peer support and suicide prevention. Szopinski and Mary Minor are the sponsors for the group.

“They do peer mentoring and are paired up with freshman,” Szopinski explained. “They also do peer mediating — sometimes a student will feel more comfortable talking to a peer rather than a member of the staff or an adult. But the members also have been trained that if it is a serious issue to bring it to an adult’s attention.”

Members create their own activities for participation, Szopinski added, and recently visited a no-kill animal shelter, bringing supplies needed for the pets yet to be adopted. They hosted a baby shower for expectant mothers at Angel’s Cove today and will also hold a toy drive in conjunction with the school’s Angel Tree drive for children within the district.

“The students come up with these activities,” Szopinski said. “They want to do this.”

She said she believed the organization’s success kicked off in its first year last year, especially since at that time the school had a part-time counselor.

“We had a Challenge Day with team-building activities for the entire school,” Szopinski explained. “That benefits everyone. Last year, with only a part-time counselor, there really wasn’t anyone here every day for students to talk to. SHIELD students filled that void.

“This year SHIELD members seem to get a lot out of volunteering. The activities are their ideas and I think that makes them better leaders and better people all the way around.”

Sophomore Erika Kabat says being a mentor for other students has been important to her.

“I feel like I have had a personal impact on kids’ lives,” she said. “I feel like if not for me, then they don’t know how they would be able to deal with (issues).”

Senior Kaylynn Miller agreed.

“It makes me feel good. You get a reward back because you see how they (other students) react,” she said. “It makes us feel good about ourselves and that we’ve made a difference.”

Members of SHIELD meet about every two weeks, Szopinksi said, and always seem to be coming up with new ideas for the future of the group.

“I’d also like to see them do some kind of group activity once a month with the entire school,” she said, adding that last year, members also worked with the upper grades in sharing activities at the grade school.

And despite the success of the program at Waltonville, its fingers are moving students to continue its purpose beyond graduation.

“It makes me want to keep volunteering,” said Miller. “I’ve seen how it affects people. It’s not something I want to quit after high school. I want to keep going with it.”

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