What’s recently happened?
Sharing her newest project online with fellow Munster residents, Gabriela Diaz created a plant library stationed in front of her home. Like other communities’ little libraries, residents can take a plant, leave a plant, or exchange plants.
“It would be cool to have something like this all over town, but this is my effort to #bethechange,” Diaz said in her post.
Similarly, Munster residents and gardening lovers Dustin Voris and his wife, Kelly Voris, made their own free vegetable stand for neighbors.
“I love gardening, and I kind of go overboard,” Dustin Voris said. “We end up having way more vegetables than my family can use, so my wife and I thought it would be a great idea to give some to our neighbors that actually wanted some and may not be able to grow their own.”
The Vorises found the perfect cart holder for their vegetables on Amazon and set it up in front of their home. After posting about their free vegetable stand in a neighborhood Facebook chat, many community members came by to take some home-grown vegetables for themselves.
“It was great,” Dustin Voris said. “I was doing some yard work as people came by. I got to chat with a bunch of neighbors I had never met along with some I already knew.”
What’s coming up?
As all Munster students return back to school today, many high schoolers reflect on their summers filled with volunteering in the community.
Senior Lily Hestjean has done much of her volunteering this summer at the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana’s Mobile Market. She would go regularly every Saturday to help register cars for food distribution and pack food at the warehouse.
“I think volunteering is important to our community so we gain awareness of our surroundings, and so we can use our privilege in the best way possible-to benefit others,” Hestjean said.
Along with the food bank, Hestjean volunteered her time at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve to uproot invasive species.
Senior Declan Taylor volunteered through Munster Parks and Recreation to help with their summer events like the Centennial Park Kids Fest. He also coached a baseball camp at Grove Park.
“I think that volunteering is vital to our community to keep fun events running and to connect our community more,” Taylor said.
Senior Atalissa Montague has spent her time this summer volunteering at the local library for its reading program. She assisted the library with helping people sign up for the program and handing out summer reading rewards.
“I enjoyed it, and I will probably do it again,” Montague said. “I think it is important to volunteer because you can help the community and meet new people.”
As for the elementary level, various volunteers came out to Elliott Elementary School on August 7 to paint and add color to the blacktop behind the school. Volunteers used stencils to paint hopscotch outlines and different games the kids can use during their recess time.
With school starting up, there will be even more volunteer opportunities for students. Munster High School (MHS) has the Mustang Volunteer Project, which is a club for monthly volunteering hours. MHS and Wilbur Wright Middle School students also have the opportunity to be a part of their own National Honors Societies.
Community member spotlight:
Dr. Louise Chickie-Wolfe began her teaching experience at Wilbur Wright Middle School and Munster High School. She went on to earn her Ph.D from Vanderbilt University, serve as the Educational/Behavioral Consultant for the School Town of Munster and Lake Central School District, and concluded her teaching career at Eads Elementary School.
When Chickie-Wolfe retired from her 35 year career in education, she quickly realized that she would miss working with students.
“I could not walk away from teaching ‘cold turkey,’” Chickie-Wolfe said. “I wanted to find a way to stay in contact with students.”
After brainstorming through ideas, Chickie-Wolfe learned that, although there already was a Munster Historical Society, there was not a student version, so In 2007, she created the Munster Junior Historical Society (MJHS).
“That year, I only started off with three students, but, like those who followed, they were amazing,” Chickie-Wolfe said.
Chickie-Wolfe’s goal for MJHS was to teach an appreciation of Munster’s history, provide service to the community, and to build character in her students. Sixteen years later, she still strives to accomplish those important goals.
MJHS holds monthly meetings to indulge in Munster’s History and find ways to give back to their community. The group participates in the walk for juvenile diabetes, works for the Cancer Research Center Walk, hosts its annual ‘Souper Bowl,” and much more.
“I love to reflect upon all the good work we do for our community and how grateful people are for everything we do as a student service organization,” Chickie-Wolfe said. “I take great pride in my MJHS students who are kind, fun, hard working, and dependable. This world needs more of them.”
Taking inspiration from MJHS and Indiana’s Bicentennial year, Chickie-Wolfe created the Demonstrating Outstanding Citizenship 200 (DOC 200) in 2016. DOC 200 is a project for students to perform 50 “outstanding citizenship” skills four times each. The skills fall under the categories of integrity, acceptance, service, and patriotism.
The project started off exclusively for MJHS members, but after it was recognized in Indianapolis by Indiana’s Bicentennial Committee as an official Indiana Bicentennial Legacy Project, it was made available for all Indiana students. DOC 200 then became available to all students across the nation after it was honored for its anti-bullying component at a Civility Day awards ceremony.
“The DOC 200 is extremely important because it shapes the lives, values, behaviors, and character of our youth and that has never been as important as it is today for our nation,” Chickie-Wolfe said.