The school’s newest community service club Care by Community (CBC), recently began a partnership with W.T. Cooke Elementary school in order to pair high school volunteers with elementary school students in an after-school care program at the elementary school. CBC mentors visit their buddies weekly at Cooke offering their time to tutor these students in math and reading, as well as play games and make arts and crafts.

The after school program aims to benefit students that are homeless, in foster care, or experiencing other difficult situations outside of school. The goal of the program is to create a loving atmosphere for the students, ensuring that they have a safe place to go. Led by sponsor Laura Beltz, Care by Community members also participated in the ‘Hoodies for the Holidays’ campaign to provide college sweatshirts to children in need.

“Our students are doing amazing things to help these kids that get through elementary school despite their circumstances. They love the experience and are going above and beyond to help. It’s very heartwarming to see the volunteers brighten up a child’s day,” Beltz said.

Junior Jordan Parker-Ashe is the president of Care by Community. Parker-Ashe has helped Beltz create this program and is always looking for new students to recruit as mentors.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity to hang out with these kids and I’m so honored. The amount of students we have participating is amazing,” Parker-Ashe said.