The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 51

The Cincinnati Enquiker TEMPO Friday, June 6, 1997 D3 Volunteers: Students leap at opportunities Volunteering pays off President Clinton has often cited a Brandeis University study that showed students participating in meaningful community service activities made better grades and had a greater sense of commitment to their communities. According to researchers at the Waltham, college, high school students who regularly perform community service: Earn higher grades in math, sci ence and social studies. Are more aware of community needs. Are more socially responsible and accepting of cultural diversity. Feel better about their school experience.

Are more likely to attend college. Mark Curnutte Information These groups offer community service opportunities for young people: United Way Volunteer Resource Center, 2400 Reading Road, Cincinnati 45202. 762-7171. The Mayerson Foundation, 312 Walnut Suite 3600, Cincinnati 45202. 621-7500.

Corporation for National Service, 1100 Vermont Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20525. (202) 606-5000. The National Student Volunteer ProgramVolunteers in Service to America (ACTION) 806 Connecticut Ave.

NW, Washington, C. 20525. National Youth Leadership Council, 1910 W. County Road St. Paul, Minn.

55113. (612) 631-3672. National Service Learning Cooperative, University of Minnesota Vocational Technical Educational Building, 1954 Buford Ave. R-290, St. Paul, Minn.

55108. (800) 808-7378. National Society for Experiential Education, 3509 Haworth Drive, Suite 207, Raleigh, N.C. 27609. (919) 787-3263.

looking for self-esteem strokes. Some are looking to satisfy an intellectual curiosity." The term service-learning was coined in the 1970s to define a teaching technique that used community service as part of school curriculum. The trend built steam in the 1980s when additional educators and politicians saw service-learning as one method of countering the nation's pervasive "me-first" attitude. One of the first local high schools to incorporate service-learning in its 1970's curriculum was St. Xavier.

Unlike some other private schools, where community service is required for graduation, the St. program is voluntary. About half of the 1,400 students at the all-male school participate in several programs including hospital-based work, tutoring, Junior Big Brothers, rehabbing buildings and summer mission trips to Appa-lachia and the inner city. Some 1,000 students participated in the annual St. Canned Food 'Drive and collected more than 100,000 pounds of food.

"We're constantly trying to make the connection between who they are as Christian-Catholics and how they live and spend their time," says John Ravenna, director of community service at St. where the motto is, "Men and Women For and With Others." It's a slogan many Tristate teens take to heart. Derrick Ragster, 19, a Western Hills High School graduate, volunteers several hours with preschoolers some of them physically disabled in a school-based vocational day care center. Mr. Ragster, a student in the district's orthopedic handicapped program located at Western Hills has personal reasons for volunteering.

"It makes me feel good about myself," he says. Mr. Ragster, who has suffered left-side paralysis and uses a one-handed manual wheelchair, also says, "It's the right thing for me to do the right thing for anybody who can help. "I help them the best I can. I know some of them see me as a role model." Qandett Cottage ANNUAL SAILE BEAUTIFUL BLOOMING HANGING BASKETS reg.

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At Summit Country Day School, a Catholic school in Hyde Park, 48 hours of community service are required for graduation. Adam Haas, 18, a Summit graduate from Fort Thomas, completed his requirement by assisting in flood clean-up efforts in Falmouth. Many of his classmates were involved in an ongoing tutoring program at Washington Park Elementary, a Cincinnati Public School in Over-the-Rhine. "I've done some things I otherwise wouldn't have done," Mr. Haas says.

"I think it's positive to have it (a community service program) in the schools. People are more likely to do stuff if they just have to show up at school and get on a bus." A new study by the U.S. Department of Education bears that out: 93 percent of high school students who were asked to volunteer actually did, compared with 24 percent of those who were not asked. That's the point stressed by program organizers at schools that don't require community service. Usually, just asking or making the opportunities available to students are enough to get them involved.

"Helping other people is a seductive process," says Sara Alley, the Sycamore High School English service has If you go What: Youth Pride Day, a celebration of the positive traits of Tristate young people. When: Saturday. March begins 11 a.m. at Cincinnati City Hall. Noon rally at Fountain Square.

Miscellaneous: Featured speaker is Leslie Isaiah Gaines, former judge of the Hamilton County Municipal Court. Representatives of Tristate organizations that provide community service opportunities will be available in booths to meet with youths. Information: 921-5502 (Invest in Neighborhoods). number of service opportunities including in-school tutoring to meet the requirement. They also must write in a journal to reflect on their experience.

Rick Bateman, Lakota's director of secondary curriculum, says the requirement is generally accepted by students and families in the district. "It's the attitude that as a citizen of this community, of this world, we should give something back," Mr. Bateman says. But some Tristate educators are against mandatory service. "This really isn't for everyone," says Steve Elliott, the Finneytown Fl -X- GREENHOUSE HOURS M-F 8 AM-8 PM SAT 8 AM-5 PM SUN 10 AM-5 PM CALL FOR DIRECTIONS with a large selection of perennials and herbs.

Plants and Fish big and beautiful. 941-2235 1028 Ebenezer Rd 4 --stew 1 Mr4 "4 1. VlS III I CONTINUED FROM PAGE Dl director of admission. "We're also loloking for future alumni who will irake the university proud as leaders in their communities," she says. "Past community service is an indicator of future involvement." I Miami applicants about for the Class of 2001 are increasingly involved in their communities as high school students.

I In 1995, about two-thirds of the 3300-member freshman class said they had participated in community service as teens; 88 percent of the Class of 2001 will bring community service experience to campus in th fall, according to a survey of student applications. Volunteer coordinators at many social service agencies say teens generally come with more energy ard fewer stereotypical images of the needy than their adult counterparts. "They're energetic and optimistic," says Jenny Epaves, volunteer coordinator at Stepping Stones Center, Indian Hill. The agency serves people with a variety of disabilities, and involves as many as! 100 teen volunteers a day for its nine-week summer day camp for disabled youths. i Encouraging service Many of the area's public school districts promote ideals of community service through elective social studies classes that include service components.

Other schools offer, credit toward graduation for volunteer activities. keeping with the Ohio law that calls for active learning, Cincinnati Public Schools are developing a social studies curriculum that will feature "participatory government." It will be implemented in phases during the next three yers. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade will not be required' to perform community service, but a wide range of opportunities will be available, says John Thompson, chairman of the district's social studies curriculum council and a social studies teacher at Walnut Hills High School. As part of social studies Required by: mark curnutte The Cincinnati Enquirer While school-based community service enjoys widespread support, the vehicle driving some programs a graduation requirement ha drawn criticism. kome educators, lawyers and sociologists oppose required community service as a violation of civjj rights.

Others warn that students must be properly trained to reduce the burden on agencies and their clients and must complete a reflection period (including journal wrfting). ''You have to be very careful what kind of situations you place students in," says Norah Peters, chair of the departments of sociology anthropology at Beaver Coljege, Glenside, Pa. "You have to sure students receive proper training. You need to make sure they begin to understand why these certain social conditions need to make sure they're supervised." At least one public school district in the Tristate Lakota Local Schools is among the estimated 8 percent of public school districts nationwide to re quire community service for graduation. Between 10 and 15 hours of service is required as part of a government class for juniors and seniors.

Students can select from a Rush puts BY CHRIS VARIAS Enquirer contributor Only the most devoted Rush fans know what Geddy Lee is singing about, and the rest don't care. For every listener turned off by the Canadian trio's use of mythological themes, there is another sold on the band's blend of art rock and hard rock. Behind all of Rush's literary and musical heavy-handedness stands Mr. Lee, the bassist and vocalist who doesn't take himself or his band too seriously. The opening fanfare to the band's Riverbend performance Wednesday night proved that.

Pavement's recent single "Stereo" blasted from the PA system and segued into Rush's charge to the stage. The song makes reference to Mr. Lee's melodious cackle: "What about the voice of Geddy LeeHow did it get so highI wonder does he speak like an ordinary guy." OW YOU CAN AS teacher who runs its Voluntary Student Services program. "It's a pervasive feeling." The Sycamore Township school sweetens the deal by offering half acredit 20 are needed to graduate for 60 hours of documented community service. A maximum of one credit (120 hours of service) is available.

More than 60 Sycamore students performed about 1,200 hours of service this year in animal shelters, as clerics for the cities of Blue Ash and Montgomery, as tutors for disabled elementary school students elsewhere in Sycamore Schools and at Meadow-brook Care Center, Montgomery, where they walked with Alzheimer's patients. "My generation did want to make the world a better place, but we didn't do anything," says Ms. Alley, 50. "This generation is doing something." At still other schools, such as Finneytown and Scott High School, Taylor Mill, community service occurs through elective civics courses. Finneytown's 150 volunteers contributed more than 24,000 hours during the school year; Scott's 55 performed more than 28,000 hours.

Finneytown social science teacher Steve Elliott organized the student program that's widely regarded as the regional public school model. Mr. Elliott's students read to children in a Roselawn shelter for homeless families, serve food in the Drop-Inn Center and work with disabled children. They are involved for several reasons. "They might want to support specific causes," he says.

"They might be its critics High School social studies teacher who organized its student volunteer program. "We've had a lot of success on an elective basis." More than three of four Finneytown seniors participated this year. Negative experiences do happen. "You don't want the initial exposure to be a bad one that detours future volunteerism," Ms. Peters says.

"You have to make sure the students can reflect and process the experience afterward." Maryland is the only state that requires community service 75 hours for graduation from its public schools, although state education administrators in New York, Minnesota, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Vermont strongly encourage such programs. There could be more state requirements coming. A poll of 6,000 school board members from around the country conducted earlier this year revealed that 71 percent favored required community service, while 20 percent were against it. Required community service also appears to have friends in a high place. Last year, the U.S.

Supreme Court refused to hear a student's suit opposing a New York district's requirement, and in February, the court let stand a lower court ruling allowing the Chapel Hill-Carrboro (N.C.) City schools to require community service. could be considered as a riotous act by some Buckeyes. Years of arena-hopping are slowly catching up with Neil Peart, hero to drummers who prefer flash over subtlety. With his expanding midsection and Van Dyke beard, he's beginning to take on the look of one of his drumming contemporaries, Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos.

Mr. Peart plays to and for the crowd. He tossed a drumstick straight up in the air several times throughout the night and cleanly caught it at about an 80 percent clip. His kit was set upon a rotating platform, so he could spin it around, use each of his numerous drums and never turn his back to his devotees. Many onlookers among the crowd of 11,206 yelped in reaction to a gratuitous drum solo.

Most of those yelps were not a stamp of approval for extraordinary playing, but simply programmed responses to recognizing a drum solo. ACTUALLY WALK INSIDE THE FRONTGATE' CATALOG Frontgate, outfitters to America's finest homes, now has a retail store in nearby Lebanon. Stop by soon for a close'Up look at all the top-quality merchandise in the Frontgate catalog! I Gas charcoal grills Outdoor furniture Pool floats loungers 6ath linens accessories Electronics 'Gourmet Kitchen 'Storage maintenance and so much more! Plus save 25-40 on overstocks, close-outs, and scratch 'n dents! Visir The Fmnrgatt' Retail Store call today fin ytw free catalog' Store hours 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday-Saturday LOCATED JUST 5 MINUTES NORTH OF KINGS ISLAND 1-71 to Exit 28 mile mirth on Route 48 Left on Fujitec Drive, then right on Henkle Drive The Frontgate Retail Store is located in the fourth building on the RETAIL STORE 2800 Henkle Drive Lebanon OH 45036 1-800-436-2100 on merely standard act right i mttr CONCERT REVIEW "We've got 4 or 5 million songs to play for you tonight," announced Mr. Lee early in the three-hour show. "I hope you've taken your medication." "Limelight," "Spirit of the Radio" and "Tom Sawyer" were just a few of the radio favorites the band mixed with newer songs.

During another, "The Trees," Mr. Lee and guitarist Alex Life-son stalked one another and traded heavy-metal grimaces, all the while with tongues in cheeks. The most striking things about their newer and less-popular material were the accompanying videos projected on a large screen behind the band. The rapid-fire images set to "Nobody's Hero" were especially eyebrow-raising. Flashing an image of Steubenville, Ohio's favorite son, Dean Martin, during a song called "Nobody's Hero" itii firT WW A.