The purpose of schooling is to prepare our youth to be productive citizens. Yes, they teach book skills for reading, writing, arithmetic, science, etcetera but they also help teach other life skills. One of those life skills is being a good, responsible, caring community member. One of the ways they do that is by bringing in not only the Hastings Mayor to talk to the eighth graders, but also the Chamber of Commerce’s Business of the Year. This year, that was Nicole Sindelar of the Hastings Golf Club and Hastings Public House.
Roughly 250 eighth grade students gathered in the middle school auditorium for a quick presentation from both Mayor Fasbender and Sindelar before they went to lunch. Once lunch was over, they were bussed downtown to the Hastings riverfront for roughly an hour of park clean up.
As the students were gathering, one student asked Assistant Principal Trent Hanson how long they were going to be cleaning. His reply was, paraphrasing here, ‘as long as it will take about 300 students to do some good in the community.’ Then he quantified that by saying ‘about an hour’.
But his statement was a strong one to the few kids walking with him to the auditorium. It was obvious at that moment that they had no idea they as eighth graders could make an impact on the community in which they live. At 14 years old, most kids are still trying to figure out what bands they like the best, and how to navigate another transition to another school, not wondering if they can do some good in their community, but they soon found out they can and do impact everyone around them.
Both Mayor Fasbender and Sindelar talked about that very thing, doing good in the community. Sindelar spoke on how she loves being part of the community here in Hastings, that her business thrives here because of the great community members and how so many people inspire her to give back through their own actions. She focused on keeping a positive attitude and how that rubs off on other people around you. That service to the community rubs off on others. She also talked about how failure is not a bad thing and that she just gets right back up the next day and tries again.
After the brief gathering the students returned to class for lunch then hopped on a bus downtown where they spent roughly an hour cleaning the riverfront. As they returned to the Rotary Pavilion, there were cups of Culvers custard and toppings waiting for them before they returned to school.