Alumni Profiles: A Story of Summer Service
On July 12th and 20th, 2023, USN alumni gathered at Columbus Collegiate Academy-Main St. (CCA-Main St.) and Columbus Collegiate Academy-Dana Ave. (CCA-Dana Ave.), respectively.
Old classmates, now in some of the best high schools Columbus has to offer, took their seats side-by-side as the tasks for the volunteer days were laid out: Cleaning Chromebooks and water fountains, organizing the Family Resource Centers, shelving books in the library, and cleaning up any sight of litter on our campuses were all on the docket.
Over the course of that first day of service, The Huddle was able to talk to a few alumni about their experiences with United Schools Network campuses, life in high school, volunteerism, and college aspirations.
One of the first alumni to congregate in the CCA-Main St. library was Tayshawn. These halls are familiar to him, for the most part, as this was his own middle school. He contentedly remarks that the hallways look even better with the new ADA-accessible ramp additions that have been made since he last set foot in the building.
Tayshawn now attends Bishop Hartley High School. The transition, he says, has been a positive one, if not a bit anxiety-inducing. He’s adjusting to new traditions, like House Days — a Hogwarts-style point system in which his excellent work and deeds earn his “House” points.
As in many Columbus high schools, students aspiring for and documenting a great deal of volunteering service is par for the course. Tayshawn tells the room that, in addition to helping around the school, he has also spent hours volunteering at the Columbus Italian Festival when he wasn’t busy wrestling or making waves in the Overwatch e-sports world.
Next in the door is Miyea. An alumna of both United Preparatory Academy-State Street (UPrep-State St.) and CCA-Dana Ave., she is no stranger to United Schools Network. Entering her sophomore year at Cristo Rey High School, she shares that she’s done cheerleading and is ready to start up track and field for the first time, too. She sits by Tayshawn, discussing familiar faces and common connections from their shared backgrounds in the Network at large with the next volunteer, Mahkei. Miyea recognizes Mahkei as a fellow Cristo Rey student, a senior she's seen in the halls. I would talk to two more Cristo seniors, Juliet and Marla.
As they begin traveling to various classrooms to begin the day’s tasks, they are greeted by hallways lined with college pennants. Perhaps it's no coincidence that these alumni, who once saw these flags every day alongside instruction stressing “college-prep” excellence, now have plenty of big college goals that they discuss confidently. Various iconic Ohio school names are thrown out in conversation, from Miami University to Ohio State.
How’s high school going, anyway?
Rolling up her gray hoodie sleeves and organizing some wires for the classroom tech, Miyea answers, “I feel that I was prepared for most of [high school]. CCA was a good head start.” Juliet and Marla chip in that the course load at CCA-Main St. was rigorous and that, crucially, those challenges made the transition into high school academics easier.
In another classroom, two volunteers sit at a round table in the corner.
Chala, current Cristo Rey rising junior, is right at home, having attended CCA-Main St. from 6th to 8th grade herself. Sharifa went to CCA-Dana Ave. for her 6th and 7th grades before transferring to CCA-Main St.. Like Miyea, though, her history with USN precedes that, as she is also an alumna of UPrep-State St. She now attends Independence High School, going into her sophomore year.
When talking to these two, you get the sense that everyone knows everyone across the Network — they discuss favorite teachers and the classrooms that anyone within the tight-knit culture of USN would recognize.
Maybe it's, once again, the college names on every door and the pennants over so many of the bulletin boards, but the topic of post-high school comes up.
“I want to go to an HBCU,” Chala reports proudly, “and I’m really thinking about Xavier University in Louisiana.” Sharifa takes a deep breath, explaining she feels like thinking about college makes the high school experience feel like it’s going by faster — and perhaps it speaks well of the high school experience that she’s trying to stay in that moment and not press fast-forward. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t think at all about the future, though: she’s gearing up to become a surgeon.
To the topic of the day, volunteerism, Chala lists off the number of community members and organizations she’s been able to serve: YMCA, local festivals, the like — perhaps she ran into Tayshawn at the Italian Festival, which they both mention.
Sharifa is just now ramping up her volunteering, and this is one of her first service outings.
As I watch the smiling faces and busybodies rushing around to beautify and organize the classrooms and hallways that these alumni once walked through as students, I’m confident that it will not be the last time for any of them. Thank you, alumni, for volunteering with us.