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Six Grants Awarded to Teachers, Classrooms Through Junior YAC Project
MacKenzie Sudol, a 2008 Cedarville High School graduate, hopes the exercise of selecting worthy projects for the grants will also inspire future philanthropists to be involved with charitable causes. Miss Sudol and two middle school representatives awarded the grants May 27 to the elementary staff who will administer the grants. A five-year member of the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC), Miss Sudol has participated in the selection process for grants awarded by the youth fund. Twice a year, YAC members help pick the recipients of grants for programs that help young people in the community. The teens usually have between $3,000 and $10,000 to give in grants each year. The Youth Fund was established 10 years ago, and remains the foundation's biggest fund. "I loved that I had a say in the matter when we discussed how much money we wanted to give to a project in town," Miss Sudol said of her experience. "I was working with students much older than me, so for the first year or so I just took notes, listening to what they looked for in each grant." Her enthusiasm dimmed a bit, however, when she realized there are few students to carry the committee after the high school students are graduated and move on. Reaching into the younger grades for future members seemed like a good solution, so she made it her Girl Scout Gold Award project. "Our high school YAC has been going through a rough patch these last few years in trying to get the younger seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students involved. In a couple of years, we won't have a YAC in Cedarville to speak of," Miss Sudol said. "This idea was pitched to me, and I thought that it would be a great way to show the younger students in the elementary what we do in the YAC, and how things are done when their teachers and the community asks for money from us and the foundation." She formed the Junior YAC the fall of her junior year, after two years of preparation. She has been working with the younger students for the past two years, and received grants from the YAC and Community Foundation to establish the group and provide money for grants. Junior YAC members are Shannon Sayles, Cara Hakola, Hope Nightlinger, Gretchen Spencer, and Maddy Cardwell. Miss Sayles was in fifth grade, while the rest of the students were in sixth grade. The group conducted a survey to see what elementary students thought was needed in the school, and found that a lot wanted money to pay for a pool for gym class. Miss Sudol spent time telling the students what the YAC does, such as host dances, to raise money for grants. The Junior YAC helped with one of the high school YAC dances in the winter, Miss Sudol said, and the junior members were in charge of decorations. "They got their whole class involved in art one day to make huge snowflakes, so that was fun to see them having a ball while helping out the YAC," she added. She believes the challenges of projects like this helped prepare her for even greater challenges in the future. "It definitely seemed at times, like when the YAC didn't have an adult advisor, that it would have been nice to give up on this idea," Miss Sudol said, quickly explaining that if she had given up, she and the younger YAC members would have missed the opportunity to give grants. "The most enjoyable thing for me was working with such great kids. They would not slack off," Miss Sudol said. "They always looked forward to what we would have to do next. They loved doing what they did, and they were good at it. They gave money to teachers who will use it in order to purchase worthwhile objects for their classrooms. I loved the feeling that I helped those students help their teachers and school." |
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