Scholars’ Academy ‘Civics For All Fair’ Shows Why Community Service Matters
By Kami-Leigh Agard
Where does love for community and giving back begin? At this past Friday, March 7, Scholars’ Academy Second Annual “Civics For All Fair”—judging from the number of students who signed up to volunteer for a plethora of local community organizations present at the event—it was not about filling hours for mandated high school graduation community service, but fulfilling a deep-rooted passion to make a difference. This year’s NYC Department of Education (DOE) theme for “Civics For All Fair” was “Democracy Begins Here! From the classrooms where students learn to raise their voices, to the neighborhoods that unite us, to the local NYC government where change takes shape—democracy starts with YOU!”
Scholars’ Student Government Association (SGA) organized the fair to not only help students meet their community service graduation requirements, but also fan a wave of civic leadership and community service. Last year’s fair had 19 organizations, and this year’s expanded to 26. Also, present at this year’s Fair were Scholars’ alumni, still actively involved with organizations they’ve volunteered with since their high school days. All attendees were gifted goodie bags of produce from the school’s hydroponic farm.
For born-and-bred Rockaway twelfth grader and SGA Vice President Quinn Breslin, his seed for paying it forward to others was planted at Rockaway Special Olympics (RSO).
“RSO changed my life. Volunteering with these people has been about meeting the nicest individuals, who become your friends. We all want to play basketball, have fun and ball out. We’re all human. Everybody’s making friends and smiling, and I think the simple things are what really makes the difference. It’s just about having fun and making each other smile, and give back,” Breslin shared.
According to Breslin, after last Friday’s event at Scholars’, this past Monday, March, 10, turned out to be a 10 as over 10 students showed up to volunteer at St. Camillus gymnasium to volunteer for RSO.
For SGA President Seline Dudnath, when asked why volunteering is a pathway for the youth leaders of tomorrow, she said, “Volunteering diversifies your perspective of the world. As teenagers, we don’t think about anyone besides ourselves. We don’t really consider other people’s living situations or anything like that. So, I think volunteering provides us with a rare opportunity to view the other side of the world that you wouldn’t see. And again, personally it’s very fulfilling just to know that you spent your time paying it forward and doing something good for the environment of the community, not just for yourself.”
Breslin added, “I definitely agree with Seline, as a local kid growing up here, I’ve been determined to make a difference. It’s been really cool to give back to the place that I was raised.”
Judging from the students swarming each community organization’s table to sign-up for volunteer opportunities, this event was not about filling community service high school graduation mandates, but a determination to make a difference.
One table Scholars’ students swarmed around was local community surf collective organization, Laru Beya.
Founded in 2018 by lifelong Rockaway resident, Aydon Gabourel, Laru Beya Collective is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the “historically excluded youth of the Far Rockaways through surfing.” Laru Beya means “on the beach” in the language of the Garifuna, a culturally preserved and unique Afro-Indigenous people still residing throughout Central America and the Caribbean.
For Gabourel, he wants students to know that they should think about investing their talents and passions at home—wherever they live, especially those who live in Rockaway.
“I grew up in Rockaway, and there seems to be this thing, especially with the young people when they go off to college, that the first thing they want to do is leave. And I was the same way. I went to Brooklyn and maybe Atlanta for a hot minute, but I ended up coming back, which I’m so grateful for. I’m so thankful and came back with a new set of eyes to see how fortunate we are to be able to live by the beach and the ocean in New York.
“You don’t have to run halfway across the country. Nothing wrong with that, but if you want to stay here in Rockaway, you can make a living in this new blue economy. Laru Beya offers free mentorship not just about how to surf the waves, but opportunities,” Gabourel said.
As for the goal of this year’s “Civics For All Fair” event, Scholars’ SGA advisor, Kimberly Newman, said, “Besides setting the precedent that this is now a growing annual event, though Scholars’ emphasizes community service requirements for graduation, most of our students far exceed those hours.
“We have students that really want to get involved and engaged with their community. So, we really want our students to model community engagement for others, who may be hesitant to get involved. So, having the ninth grade and 10th grades having such positive feedback was really refreshing because maybe they will reference these experiences when they are interviewing on the phone and other interactions, outside of coaches, parents and teachers. So, we’re trying to kind of expose them to the outside world, and I think Scholars’ ‘Civics For All Fair’ is a good way to show them options not just for service, but internships and maybe connections and realizing that you really want to have positive relationships with everybody.”
Scholars’ Academy is also launching a pilot internship program this spring. For more info, including to participate in other Scholars’ community engagement opportunities, please reach out to Student Government Advisor Kimberly Newman at (718) 474-6918.
