Ama Addo
Contributing Writer
Giving back to the community is a task easier said than done. However challenging, many students see structured advocacy as necessary in order to become an active member of change in the spaces we occupy. For sophomores Aaron Roberson ’18, Patrick Johnson ’18, Ethan Barham ’18 and Derrick Florence ’18, creating the Youth Development Program, a Wooster-based mentorship group, was a way for them to be proactive in the change they wanted to see. Roberson reflected on the community work they do: “Our work mostly engages the Wooster community and the surrounding areas because of our desire to work within and learn more about the community we are living in.”
This program started around this time last year. “As freshmen, we felt we needed to make an impact on the community and felt that starting this program was the best way to do it,” said Roberson. Johnson said that some of the things they currently do with the kids include reading, playing and setting up fun educational activities with them.
Like any other person working for change, these students hit a few roadblocks now and then. Johnson said, “One of the challenges they are currently facing is having to fit our volunteer work into our schedules. Many of us are a part of one or more groups on campus and sometimes we are not able to work as much as we want to.”
Similarly, Roberson said, “The biggest challenge for us all has been our timing. We all are very involved within campus as well as athletics which at times make our schedules not so flexible. So finding the time especially while in season can be difficult but we make it work.”
Speaking on what they hope to accomplish through this program, Johnson said, “We hope to impact some of the lives of these young kids by serving as mentors. As student athletes, we know we are role models in the community and many people look up to us.”
They started with the City of Wooster nursery and plan to expand their mission to include other nearby schools starting next year, in hopes of making impact on communities near them.
“We hope to use this experience and the connections made from it to start an after school program for sports and youth development,” said Roberson. They said that interacting with the children of the nursery was the most rewarding part of creating this program.
“Honestly, for all of us, every day we go to the nursery is the best part of the day. Helping and watching the development of those little people is funny, touching and interactive,” said Roberson.
Patrick echoed this sentiment: “I think the most rewarding part of being in this program is seeing these kids have fun. They are so full of life and energy and it’s just fun to see them be themselves.”
The group will continue to assist the teachers at the nursery who often need help with the number of kids they have. One project they are currently developing is a scholarship fund, which they plan to start fundraising for in the coming months.