Student Social Responsibility Team formed

“To equip all students with transferable skills, promote academic independence, foster social responsibility and inspire a passion for learning” is an excerpt from Homestead’s mission statement. Implemented into daily lessons and stressed in nightly homework, the statement resounds throughout the classrooms and halls of the school.

Due to the fact that the statement is accentuated in various areas of the classroom, Homestead’s faculty looked to encourage students to extend the ideals outside of class. Specifically, the faculty Social Responsibility Team searched for a way for students to promote and spread the ideals of social responsibility outside their classroom life.

The answer: the Student Social Responsibility Team.

Mr. Matthew Wolf, business teacher and member of the faculty Social Responsibility Team, recognizes that “academically, [the faculty] was filling all needs but wanted to make a concerted effort to foster the social responsibility aspect.”

Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the faculty Social Responsibility Team selected a group of 50 students to attend We Day, a leadership conference in Illinois. Mr. Christopher Gray, assistant principal, describes We Day as a “leadership-type activity where students gained insight on how to be socially-responsible individuals.”

We Day was centered around the goal of inspiring compassion in students with the hope of furnishing them with the tools needed to make a transformational change in the world. “We Day was a very great experience because it gave us an opportunity to feel empowerment about the difference we could make,” MaryKate Simon, senior, said.   

After We Day, members of the Class of ‘16 were given the opportunity to officially apply for the Social Responsibility Team. Several meetings occurred in the start of the 2015-2016 school year involving students and teachers alike in an effort to organize the goals and plans of the club.

A small group composed of ten students took a trip to Camp Whitcomb, located in Hartford, Wisconsin, for a day of leadership activities and training. Mr. Gray chaperoned the visit and noticed that the contrasting assortment of personalities did not hinder the students from interacting. “The students who went to Camp Whitcomb came from different places and were not necessarily considered friends, resulting in a pretty diverse group, but the experience of the camp allowed connections to be made and relationships to be built,” Mr. Gray said.

Assembling on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Social Responsibility Team brought a large quantity of ideas to the table with the objective of making a difference. “We designated three tiers to make a social impact: Homestead High School, Mequon-Thiensville school district and the Mequon-Thiensville community,” Mr. Wolf said. Using those three areas to separate the schemes proposed by students into categories, the club was able to conduct a student-vote to select the desired proposals and at the same time, address all aspects of the community.

“The Social Responsibility Team is such a great group of people who really want to make a change in both our school and community,” Katie Writz, senior, said. “We hope to implement many tools in order to foster togetherness and responsible choices in our society.

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Mr. Paul Sivanich, physics teacher, chose Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, Inc.

During the 2014-2015 school year, the poster campaign involving teachers was implemented. Emphasizing four specific ideals–awareness, community, compassion and integrity–all teachers were asked to select a role model that exemplified these characteristics.