Editor’s Note: Student Union is written by students at Brewer High School, Hermon High School, John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Schenck High School in East Millinocket, Searsport District High School and Stearns High School in Millinocket. The weekly column is a joint effort among the schools, the Bangor Daily News and Acadia Hospital. This week’s column was written by Brewer High School students Cheyanne Banks, Nichole Gray, Brennan Cammack, Tom Bivens, Alicia Hewes, Kelsey Gagnon and Kelly Ladd. Their adviser is Sherrie Thomas.

Lending a hand in the community is one of the greatest gifts to give during the holiday season, or anytime. Freshmen at Brewer High School have taken on the task this winter of giving something back to the community of people who have supported them over the years.

Freshman English teacher Linda Norton engages students in service learning with an assignment called The Tin Man Project.

The yearly project focuses on various writing skills (journals, business letters, proposals, PowerPoint) while students select, organize and arrange community service projects. Community service not only increases English skills, it is now a school requirement for graduation.

Like the Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz,” students show a lot of heart as they learn how their hard work affects others and develop compassion for community members.

One difficult part of the project is choosing a single charity. Past students have volunteered at such charities as Manna, the Ellen Leach Home, the Elizabeth Levinson Center, the Children’s Discovery Museum, the Ronald McDonald House and the Bangor Humane Society.

Their tasks have included making and serving dinners, wrapping Christmas presents, reading to children, giving tours and cleaning.

Brad Randall and Lisa Eldridge, who worked with the Humane Society last year, continued their service through the summer and into their sophomore years. Along with supporting charitable organizations, some students volunteered at district grade schools to help children in a classroom setting.

This year, Colleen Carr, Class of 2008, and the members of her group chose to work with the Ellen Leach Home in Brewer for their community service effort. The home for senior citizens offers independent and assisted living.

“My group hadn’t previously worked with older people that much, and we thought we might be able to have fun and work hard getting something done for the home,” Carr explained.

Mary Kenney, owner of the Ellen Leach Home, said, “The students come down and help with activities. Some of the older folks don’t have any family around the area, so the kids help them address Christmas cards and send gifts. The different age group and perspective of the kids has brought happiness to the older people at the home.”

Not only does the charity benefit from the services the students willingly perform for them, but the volunteers receive gratification and realize their individual importance through the experience.

“I think that this will show me that I can help others and possibly it will help me in knowing what I want to be when I am older,” Carr said.

The positive nature of the hands-on project teaches students a lesson that cannot be learned inside the classroom: empathy for people in the community.

“I would definitely consider doing this outside of the classroom,” Carr said. “Finding the free time would be the only difficult part, but I know that the satisfaction of helping others would be well worth it.”

The opportunity presented with the project is unlike most others as volunteers come to realize the power of their work. The community can always benefit from helping hands and people with a lot of heart.