By Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
Treated by students as a coveted educational gift, late-start Wednesdays mean the alarm clock can be set a little later and the line at Starbucks might be a little longer.
Although for senior Kendall Ashman, there’s nothing late about her Wednesdays. Her time is not spent resting on the cool side of her cool rather she’s mentoring a young student at Paint Creek Elementary. Ashman,18, counsels an at-risk girl who’s had a troubled home life and struggles with grades and making friends.
It’s this commitment to helping others and volunteering that lead Ashman and more than 20 others to be recognized and awarded from Orion Area Youth Assistance. The Youth Assistance, a volunteer based organization created to help families and young people, received applications from people all across Orion nominating students for their volunteerism and good deeds.
Students, parents, Orion Township board members and school board members filled the high school auditorium on Friday, May 1, for the awards ceremony.
Superintendent Marion Ginopolis opened with kind remarks of Orion youth participating in volunteer efforts worldwide and highlighted the above and beyond commitments of the 22 being honored.
‘We’re here to recognize our youth who really do care and have made a difference in the lives of others,? Ginopolis said. ‘I can’t tell you how impressed I am for the willingness our young people have to help others.?
A line of the night’s dignitaries lined the stage to shake the hands of the award winners including Deputy County Executive Matthew Gibb and County Youth Assistant Supervisor Patrick Breen.
Ashman was the first of the individual recognitions for not only her involvement in counseling the young girl from Paint Creek, but taking part in the Students Offering Support program and the Friend to Friend club; which involves activities and mentoring with students having special needs.
The soon-to-be Spartan humbly accepted the award and said she cherished all her work but it’s been her work at Paint Creek that’s been the most rewarding.
‘I try to take what she says and give her advice and she turns to me when she has a problem or needs to talk,? Ashman said. ‘It’s fun because I can become a little kid and identify with her.?
Ashman is certainly not alone in her pay-it-forward sort of activity level. Senior Sarah Simpson was also honored for her volunteerism and involvement within the school.
Simpson, 18, is involved with DECA and the National Honor Society as well as the High School’s HOPE Project (Helping Other People Everyday).
Simpson, who will also be attending Michigan State University, recalled her fondest moments were volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House. She and her other classmates went down to the McDonald House five separate times to cook fresh meals for kids and families down on their luck.
‘Seeing the residents and telling us how grateful they were for having us there was the most rewarding feeling,? she said ‘They don’t usually get that sort of home cooked meal.?
Joining Ashman and Simpson in receiving individual awards was sophomore Megan Slomczenski, eighth grader Sophia Wyborski, and second grader, Donovan Cason.
Cason is heavily involved with the O.A.T.S program which is a horseback riding program aimed at special needs children and adults. Slomczenski volunteered her time at Grace Centers of Hope rescue shelter in Pontiac while Wyborski teaches leadership through sports as she helps coach sixth grade basketball.
The two remaining groups of young volunteers were brought the stages for their efforts in church volunteering activities and work within the Orion Township Public Library.
According to Ginopolis, the senior class has accumulated more than 35,000 combined hours of community service over the past four years and that number is climbing daily.
The Youth Assistance program has been around since 1953 after it was created in Hazel Park by citizens and court officials. It’s now a unit within the Oakland County Circuit Court’s Family Division and has 26 offices in Oakland County.