A Student's Perspective on Positive Impact

I’m Hannah Haley, a senior at Allen High School. Throughout the past couple of
years, I have had the privilege of participating in, and this year, leading, the fourth annual Eagle Give Day. Called a “service learning day,” students sign up for a project through x2VOL that interests them and then get to serve instead of attending class. Falling on the half day before break, it is the most perfect day of the year and easy for everyone to volunteer their time, even if they have never volunteered before.

My experiences serving through Eagle Give Day have been memorable, fulfilling,
enjoyable, and so much fun. There is a project for everyone and my favorite part is finding a project with a backstory that interests me. Seeing the joy on people's faces and the immediate impact it has on their lives always makes serving worth it and inspires me to put more of the same work in. Projects have ranged from going off campus to serve in the All Community Outreach to something as simple as painting signs for our elementary schools. Some notable projects have included kindness painting rocks for an elderly rock garden, campus cleanup, unsung hero goodie bags, plarning sleeping mats for the homeless, and more. I have learned from organizing these projects and volunteering in them that serving doesn't have to be expensive or require a lot of labor, it can be much more fun doing it with friends, and most importantly, that when a lot of people come together, it can lead to something great.

I have also learned throughout the past couple of years that serving through Eagle Give Day can be so convenient. Being in PALs and NHS, I am required to get a certain number of service hours per semester and this day of serving always helps me reach my goal. For myself and other senior friends, EGD also counts for our senior civics project in Government class. On the flip side, one important thing I have learned about high schoolers is to never overestimate what skills they already know. For example, we won’t plan a sewing project again after realizing that barely any participants knew how to perform this skill.

As the idea has expanded year after year, I have loved seeing different ways in which
this community has come together to create a better Eagle Give Day than the last. This year, we broke many records with the most student participants (3405 out of 5300) and most projects available to students yet (29), as well as the Freshman campus and their 1800 students completing 5 projects as well. We were even put on the news! Overall, Eagle Give Day is a tradition that I will cherish even long after I graduate from Allen High School. I am excited to see the new ways that it touches the lives of not only the people we are impacting while serving but the lives of those giving their time to volunteer as well.

To learn more about Allen High School, Eagle Give Day, or how to create a Day of Service at your school, visit the Allen High School case study.