Community organizations are beginning to become involved in the Emporia school district’s Seasonal Celebration, and it’s becoming a win-win situation for all involved.
Girl Scouts have taken on laundry chores for sixth- through eighth-grade singers’ choir robes, and members of the Kiwanis Club of Emporia have organized themselves into a full team of ushers for the Wednesday night performance of the program. Music students from Emporia State University and members of Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow have volunteered to be ushers Thursday evening.
“It was decided to ask for adult volunteers this year to help maintain an appropriate performance atmosphere,” said Nancy Horst, community relations director for the district. “It is allowing us to involve more community groups, which is a new trend.”
District policy for years has been not to allow comings and goings during the program and keep noise levels at a minimum; taking photographs during the program is prohibited, though people who attend the formal dress rehearsal on Tuesday may take photographs.
Ushering jobs had been filled by students in past years; however, it can be awkward for students to ask adults to correct their behaviors. The organization’s volunteers may have an easier time doing that.
“Adults have a little more courage to enforce these courtesies and expections,” Horst said. “Over the past few years, the atmosphere has gotten a little casual.”
A few students may continue as ushers, she said, and teachers will be at the ticket table and ushering, if needed. Teachers are paid $12.50 per hour to work the event.
The four Girl Scouts from Troop 28 at Emporia High School will save the district money with the robe-laundering and, in the process, will earn some money for their own projects.
“They said it was going to cost them $5 or $6 a robe and we said, ‘We can do it for less than that and teach these girls good life skills,’” said assistant troop leader Karen Flood, who has worked on the project with troop leader Dana Roemer.
“This year, it was right around 545, 550 (robes) that we ended up washing. We divided them up between the four girls and they all took them home.”
The girls picked up the robes on Sunday before Thanksgiving and delivered them the following week.
“That was their project for Thanksgiving week, doing laundry,” Flood said.
Each teacher provided a list containing the numbers of different sizes each class would need, and the Scouts gave the district the bonus of sorting and hanging all of the robes by class and sizes. The Scouts charged the district $2 per robe for washing and drying, and the money will be used to help pay for special activities.
“Sometimes they’ll take a special trip at the end of the year that kind of sparks their interest, or it can pay for workshops or camps,” Flood said. “It helps them actually be more involved in Girl Scouts.”
For Kiwanis Club members, donating their ushering services provides an opportunity to do the “hands-on-type of service” that the club emphasizes, according to Kiwanis president-elect Barbara Blaufuss.
Sue Blechl suggested the Seasonal Celebration as a potential service project.
“So when a project like this comes up, it comes before the board, we look at it,” Blaufuss said. The board agreed it was a good fit, especially for some of the Kiwanians.
“We have former teachers in our group, so some of us have done this as teachers,” she said.