Beaver Dam High School Students Giving Back

In a joint effort among Beaver Dam elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school, a donation of 5,255 pounds of food was delivered to three local food pantries on November 20, 2015.  At Beaver Dam High School, the food collection was coordinated by the members of the girls’ basketball team and the Key Club.  “This was a great demonstration of what the Beaver Dam Unified School district can accomplish together; we collected approximately 1,000 pounds more food than last year, and the basketball team and Key Club are still collecting,” said Peter Duesterbeck, Key Club advisor and social studies teacher at Beaver Dam High School.  

This is an example of one of the many community outreach and service projects completed by our high-school athletics and activities groups every year. While some groups, like Key Club, National Honor Society, Charity Knits, have their primary focus on serving the community, other groups, like athletic teams, are now focusing on outreach efforts as well.  As a 2014 Key-Performance Objective of the Beaver Dam Unified School District, community-service projects are now part of the annual calendar of events for virtually all groups at the high school. The far-reaching impact of these events increases with time. In the first nine weeks of school, coordinated efforts of Beaver Dam High School students have directly impacted the World Orphan Fund, Melissa Mai Charity Golf Outing, Beaver Dam Community Hospital Breast Health, and the American Red Cross. Our students are also seen at nursing homes playing bingo with residents, and assisting at the YMCA.   Moreover, the benefit of these efforts has been reciprocated back to our students. The National Honor Society organized a breakfast, social, and an assembly for local veterans on November 11, 2015.  Savannah Pederson, National Honor Society advisor, said, “We had 68 veterans participate this year, which is approximately 40 more vets than the year before.   Our students did a great job from start to finish. Spending the morning with the veterans really showed our students the importance and meaning of Veteran’s Day.”

Future outreach projects are planned throughout the year with Special Olympics, Relay for Life, the Elk’s Lodge Food Drive, the Family Center, etc.  If you have an idea for a project for one of the many Beaver Dam High School organizations, please contact Associate Principal for Activities and Athletics Melissa Gehring at gehringm@bdusd.org (920)885-7520.