In the last couple of years, the Orono community has been pushing to give students even more opportunities to volunteer.

“Volunteering is a great way to give back to your community, and in this case, [in] your own school district. Many high school students have been able to create strong bonds with middle school students, and it is a powerful connection [where] both can learn from each other,” Americorps Promise Fellow Elsie Hanning said.

Founded many years ago, Youth in Action (YIA) strives to find activities that are in need of volunteers, while rewarding the participants with credit for school.

YIA was started by the Community Education office staff and was run by them up until the school district hired an Americorps Promise Fellow.

An Americorps Promise Fellow is someone who must do one year of service and lead a group of volunteers during that year.

Elsie Hanning and Katie Zaccaro are two Promise Fellows who work in the Orono school district and supervise YIA, in addition to helping run programs like Homework Helpers and iStars.

“My position at Orono is a volunteer position so, obviously, I am committed to volunteering,” Zaccaro said.

She has many tasks as the club’s supervisor, but the most important one is scheduling the many volunteer opportunities.

To be in YIA and receive a quarter credit, a student must complete a minimum of 45 hours of service learning, as well as participate in one group project.

Many of these projects include Leadership in Training, giving cyber bullying lessons, We Scare Hunger, We Are Silent, volunteering for sports activities and Homework Helpers.

It is not required to be a member of the group to volunteer; everyone is invited to lend a helping hand.

Sophomore Ethan Kosek is one of those students who finds a passion in volunteering, but is not involved with the club itself.

“I find moral satisfaction from tutoring the students and I like to help improve their grades,” Kosek said.

Among many, Homework Helpers is a recently developed project that aims to improve academic achievement and leadership development.

Homework Helpers was started in November of 2013. It offers high school students a unique chance to tutor students in need of extra help in their classes, as well as build strong relationships with the kids they work with.

“It provides students with a way to get their homework done in an environment where they can ask questions, and access resources such as technology, textbooks and teachers needed to get their work done,” Hanning said.

Students like seventh grader Oscar Carlson are not always able to finish their homework with a night filled with various sports and other time-consuming activities, so he looks to Homework Help to get his school work done on time.

“It isn’t always easy for me to work with people I don’t know, but I have gotten to know Zach Wagner [Carlson’s tutor],” Carlson said, “and the Helpers have made my work easy to understand and finish.”

“Most students understand that homework help will benefit them, and they really engage with the high school mentors because they know [that] they are of so much help and support,” Hanning said. “There will always be students who may not want to be there, but for the most part, everyone works to get things done.”

Homework Helpers is run three days a week–Monday, Tuesday and Thursday–and it is a great way to earn service learning hours.

“Many high school students have been able to create strong bonds with middle school students, and it is a powerful connection and both can learn from each other,” Hanning said.

According to Zaccaro, the YIA group members have collectively volunteered 1,770 hours this year, and that number is continually growing.