Charlotte Latin Service Society Class of 2019
Charlotte Latin Service Society The stated mission of Charlotte Latin School is to “encourage individual development and civility in our students by inspiring them to learn, by encouraging them to serve others, and by offering them many growth-promoting opportunities.” The Charlotte Latin Community Service Program provides numerous opportunities to meet these objectives. Participation in our service program allows students to develop an appreciation and understanding of service to others. Through exposure to and interaction with people with diverse backgrounds, abilities and socio-cultural traditions, students have firsthand opportunities to learn, to explore and to find shared human concerns. These experiences help students discover abilities within themselves and others. The Service Program provides opportunities for our students to develop leadership skills so that they can more effectively serve the community at large. The Charlotte Latin Service Society was created to encourage students to participate in the Community Service Program and to recognize those students who have made significant contributions to the area of community service. To be inducted into the Service Society, a four-year student must perform at least 150 hours of service. Students who transfer into our School will have their hour requirements prorated. Students may earn the necessary hours at any time in their Latin career, including summers — beginning with the summer before the Grade 9 year. It is hoped that service to others will become part of a student’s lifestyle and that a significant number of hours will be earned during the school year through the School’s service program. It is also hoped that the service will, for the most part, be service to those truly in need. Service must be rendered to persons outside of the Upper School and must benefit people outside of the student’s peer group or people within non-school organizations of which the student is a member. The members of the Class of 2019 listed to the right have met the requirements for induction into the Service Society. This booklet has been created to recognize their achievement.
Class of 2019 Inductees
Kaelan Amin Will Anderson Hannah Barnes Bianca Bellavia Connor Cantalupo Sarah Coston Perrin Craig Isabel Crews Clare Downey Lily Farr Arella Flur Britt Fuller Anna Kate Goodwin
Gavin Gwaltney Jacob Halperin Anna Catherine Henley Elizabeth Holtz Sierra Kanofsky Molly Kennelley Veronica Leahy Charles Maund Elizabeth Rose Nesbit Rhea Shetty Timothy Swimmer Kaitlyn Snyder Will Zwetolitz
Service Organizations Below is a small selection of the many organizations Charlotte Latin Upper School students have worked with in recent years.
Community Organizations
Community Assistance
Schools
ACEing Autism American Red Cross Autism Charlotte Camp SOAR Community Blood Bank of the Carolinas Crisis Assistance CROP Walk Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Girl Up Girls Who Code iCan Bike ImaginOn Kids First Latin American Festival Loaves and Fishes Melodic Minors Mindstrings Nevin’s Center Patriot Military Family Foundation Paws for the Cause Room in the Inn Safe Alliance Second Harvest Food Bank Serve for the Cure SPCA Special Olympics Take On Sports
Blessings in a Backpack CHAMP Club Sandwich Cookies for Kids Cancer Habitat for Humanity Hope Haven Humane Society of Charlotte Joy Prom Levine Children’s Hospital Laps for Love Matthews Help Center Mitzvah Day Operation Christmas Child ParaOlympics Race for the Cure Ronald McDonald House Sandbox Stop Hunger Now
Ballantyne Elementary Billingsville Elementary Charlotte Bilingual Preschool Community School for the Arts Costwold Elementary Druid Hill Elementary Endhaven Elementary Lakewood Preschool Lansdowne Elementary McAlpine Elementary Parkwood Elementary Pinewood Elementary Starmount Elementary Winterfield Elementary Westerly Hills Elementary Yellow Brick Road Preschool
Service Trips and International Support Africa Arizona Australia Belize Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Honduras Home for Girls India Mexico Nica Nadadores Thailand Tumaini Tanzania
Kaelan Amin “He who lives only for himself is truly dead to others.” -Publilius Syrus Service has transformed me in more ways than I could have ever possibly envisioned. From gaining a greater appreciation for everything that I take for granted to enriching my life by meeting new people with different stories, service continues to surprise me. The feeling you are encompassed with after helping somebody who is less fortunate than you is indescribable. It is a feeling that I hope every single person gets to experience at least once during this brief life. Personally, my favorite service work I have done is volunteering for the iCan Bike camp. The feeling of teaching children with autism to learn to ride bicycles is beyond description, but what is even more touching is the parents’ reactions. Many of these children’s families never imagined their son or daughter riding a bike, and witnessing them break down and cry over something so incredible is an experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Will Anderson
“Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.” -Mahatma Gandhi For all of my life, I have been fortunate enough to be a part of service at school and at my church. This has especially been evident in the past year through my experiences leading the All-School Service Project and the Charlotte Youth Ducks Unlimited Chapter, and helping out with Room In the Inn at my church. My most profound experience while serving was when one Thursday night I helped an elderly blind man to his bed, and I noticed that all of his belongings were in a plastic grocery bag. Most of the other neighbors had some type of duffle bag or backpack to put their things in, but this man did not. I immediately went into the attic of the church to find something for this man to keep his things in. I returned with an old raggedy rose patterned bag — trash in my eyes. When I placed the bag in his hands, he began to cry and thanked us saying, “This was the best gift anyone had ever given to me.” In my eyes the bag was practically worthless; in the eyes of this man, it was everything.
Hannah Barnes “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” -Albert Einstein
Serving with Aceing Autism and Living Water Children’s Center has truly changed my life over the last four years. Without the children on the Latin tennis courts and abroad in Arusha, Tanzania, my life would not have meaning. Their hopes and dreams have become mine, and I strive through my service to support both of these organizations’ efforts in any way possible. The kindergarten classroom we built in 2016 for the Yakini School will always be present in my mind every time I sit in a desk, pull out a pencil or pick up a backpack. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to serve along the way.
Bianca Bellavia
“Do your little bit of good wherever you are; it is those little bits of good put all together that overwhelm the world.� -Desmond Tutu Through service, I have gained the ability to look beyond just myself and think about my effect on others. I have a passion for working with children, and in my time at The Nest, Lansdowne Elementary and the Freedom School programs, I have been able to spark change in the lives of others — no matter how small it may be. Whether I am playing freeze tag, organizing projects or teaching a class, I always feel gratification when I see a child smiling because of me. I think that is what is so special about service: that we are able to connect with others, who on the surface may seem different from us, and make an impact in their lives. Giving time to others is the least we can do. I have found that sometimes the smallest actions make the largest differences in the long run. An act of service is an act of kindness, and one such act has the potential to create ripples that inspire others to serve too.
Connor Cantalupo “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” -John F. Kennedy I started to be involved in many service organizations during my freshman year. Service has taught me important lessons, such as having a strong work ethic and communicating with other people. When I started doing service, I had the mindset of just always focusing on the time and anxiously waiting until it was my time to leave. As I became more involved with service organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and Young Life, I started actively engaging with my coworkers ,and that’s when the purpose of service hit me. Instead of focusing on myself, I realized that if I just focused on the task that needs to be completed, got to know the new people around me and we worked as a unit, we can help people that are in need while also having fun. Even though cleaning dishes for long hours for Young Life and building part of a house for Habitat for Humanity might not sound like the most exciting task to do, I just focused on the people I was with and tried to have the most fun I could have with them, while helping the people we were working for. After working with those two organizations, my social skills grew tremendously, and I felt encouraged to work with more organizations and be more involved in the community. Service went from being something I didn’t care about to a life-changing experience that became one of the most important things in my life.
Sarah Coston
“What is success? To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition” -Ralph Waldo Emerson Growing up, my parents always taught me to be thankful for what I have — given that others may be less fortunate than I am and unable to attend a great school, may not be in good health or be surrounded by family and friends. Seeing people who didn’t have what I did, be it the homeless, less educated or others, made me realize that it was up to me to help. Keeping this in mind, I really became involved in service the summer before Upper School when I organized a school supply drive for a local elementary school. The look of thankfulness, understanding and mutual respect that passed between me and those I was serving is one I will cherish forever. I understood that service not only benefits others, but helped me get in touch with myself and who I wanted to be.
Perrin Craig
“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is power to do it.” -Marianne Williamson
Service has always been a part of my life, and I didn’t even realize it. I was taught at a young age that if you are able, you should help others. Even a small, kind act can make someone’s day. Service makes me feel good inside and has made me realize that all of us are really alike. We just have different needs and different stories. Sometimes people simply need to know that someone cares about them. I’ve done what I can for others, but this is not the end of the story. It’s just the beginning.
Isabel Crews “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.� -Mahatma Gandhi Service has taught me to appreciate relationships, even if it seems that we have little or nothing in common. Through work in service clubs, on service trips abroad and at my fire station, I have learned that it is not our language or education that connects us, but our humanity. The first time I ever traveled outside of the country was when I traveled to Honduras to work on a building project. The Hondurans who worked alongside me were very patient while teaching me how to construct a house and pronounce Spanish words for the various tools. After several trips to Honduras, I discovered my passion for travel, overseas service and language, and that there is nothing I find more rewarding than serving others. By serving others I not only have the chance to contribute to a larger goal, but I get the opportunity to learn more about myself and those around me throughout the process.
Clare Downey “Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is to serve.� -Mother Teresa I started teaching Girls Who Code because I am really passionate about narrowing the gender divide in STEM. I thought that a great way to begin to do my part in changing this dynamic was to start in my own community, and Girls Who Code was the perfect platform to get involved. As I started to prepare before teaching the course, the values that were incorporated into the Girls Who Code curriculum really resonated with me. Being able to create an environment of respect, sisterhood and empowerment excited me. When I got into the room to teach the girls, I realized that I had an opportunity to introduce them to something I was interested in and provide a positive, supportive basis on which they could build their computer science knowledge. I have loved this way of getting involved in my community in a different way than I would have had I not met this group of passionate, motivated Middle School students. They have really inspired me to continue to think about what else I can do to make resources like this club and everything we have at Latin available for girls worldwide. By thinking about their questions and watching them work together and support one another, I have learned more about coding, but more importantly, I have developed a broader understanding of leadership.
Lily Farr “If you want to heal, heal others and smile or weep at this happy reversal of fate.” -Muriel Barbery
My work with kids through The Nest and summer camps has always been something I’ve looked forward to. The children and adults that I’ve met have taught me to be more compassionate and empathetic. Stepping outside my comfort zone and interacting with people with different backgrounds, I’ve broadened my worldview and gained an even greater appreciation for the opportunities I’ve been given. Most of the people I’ve served have shown happiness and resilience in the face of tribulations they experience on a daily basis, inspiring me to be a better and brighter person.
Arella Flur “Love is a verb.� -Clare Boothe Luce
The greatest gift I can give is to share the joy that music and the arts have brought me with the rest of the community. It has been an honor to help bring Melodic Minors into the Charlotte community, sharing music throughout the community by organizing free concerts in different locations. Whether it be a toddler entranced by violins at the Ronald McDonald House or a 90-year-old former opera singer humming along to some of her favorite tunes during a retirement home concert, every moment with this organization has made me smile. We can all learn to be active ambassadors of bringing joy, kindness and love to the community.
Britt Fuller “Not what we give, but what we share makes us great.” -American Proverb
My service opportunities have meant a lot to me, and I’ve enjoyed them thoroughly. However, I appreciate them for reasons beyond the actual work completed. More specifically, I have most valued the personal relationships created through my experiences. For example, in Nicaragua, the Nica Nadadores community welcomed our group of students with open arms and taught us the importance of human commonality. We surprisingly made many connections and consequently built strong friendships that have continued to this day.
Anna Kate Goodwin “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” -Mahatma Gandhi In Thailand, I unknowingly left who I was back in Charlotte — the only ties to home being the small black and yellow Patagonia duffel bag I carried. Unplugged and off the grid. I tend to gravitate towards the challenging and all-consuming service projects, whether it’s teaching English to middle schoolers in a foreign country, working at an elephant sanctuary or being a buddy to a child with autism at a summer camp in Charlotte. Making up vocabulary games on the fly, picking pineapples to feed elephants (my elephant preferred the leaves) and music therapy seem to have nothing in common. But as service experiences, they have all been a place where I’ve lost myself in the moment. I’ve never been happier than I was in Thailand, even with the ice-cold bucket showers and gigantic spiders. I’ve never been more energized than I was during my time at Camp Boomerang. Even though I came home each day exhausted, I would talk for hours and research how I could connect and communicate with the different campers each week. My mom’s favorite saying is, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” The simple explanation is that I’m happiest when I feel connected to something, and I feel most connected when I serve.
Gavin Gwaltney “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” -Mahatma Gandhi Throughout Upper School, service has always provided me with an avenue to meet new people and expand my horizons. Service has made me realize how fortunate I am and has allowed me to assist those less well-off than myself. More specifically, Teen Court of Charlotte has allowed me to use my argumentation and public speaking skills to make a significant difference in the lives of my peers. Each week, as either a defense attorney or a prosecutor, I’m faced with a new slate of defendants from a wide variety of backgrounds. Regardless of what side I’m assigned to, I learn something new about every defendant and see them as more than a case number and a charge by the end of the evening. No two cases at Teen Court are ever exactly the same, and as an attorney, it’s my job to treat every defendant’s case like it’s the most important one I’ll ever try — because to them it probably is.
Jacob Halperin
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go.” -Dr. Seuss The summer going into my sophomore year, I took a service and adventure trip to Costa Rica with a program called Adventures Cross Country. Halfway through the trip, we went to a small and impoverished town called Mollejones. I got the opportunity to live with one of the families in the town. The family lived in a small house with a tin roof and had only the most basic necessities in the house. Although the people in this town didn’t have much, they were some of the happiest people I have ever met. The kids especially seemed to always have a smile on their faces. They didn’t need an Xbox or iPad to be happy; all they needed was a soccer ball and some other kids to play with to make them very happy. I got the opportunity to teach the kids English and played lots of soccer with them. I also helped make repairs to the town, including repainting the local church and making repairs to the roads. After this experience, I knew that I wanted to continue to put smiles on kids’ faces, as well as make an impact on people, when I got home to Charlotte. My trip to Costa Rica ignited in me a passion to serve others, as I have continued to work with and assist kids at various summer camps and have had a great time teaching Grade 3 students at Charlotte Latin about leadership.
Annaa Catherine Henley “Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is to serve.” -Mother Teresa My work with ACEing Autism as a program director has impacted my life for the better. The most memorable part of this experience was working with the kids. I enjoyed seeing the progress the participants made not only with their tennis skills but also with their social skills. Many of the children improved their speaking skills and learned various ways to express their emotions. By the end, our participants were better able to express what they liked and did not like, and what they did and did not understand — which proved beneficial in their everyday lives. I had this one instance after one of the final clinics during a session, where one of the moms came up to me and shared how much her child had loved the program. She explained that after every clinic she could see how much happier her child was, and how her child was learning to communicate with our volunteers and the other participants and becoming more sociable. From that moment, I knew the importance of the work I was doing. When I started this activity, I was unsure of who I was as a person and what I was capable of as a 16-year-old girl, but through my volunteer work, my leadership abilities shined through and gave me the drive to assert myself and put my wish to help those around me and my community into action. I no longer let my age hold me back from making a difference. Through my volunteer work, I became a leader and learned that anything I set my mind to, I am capable of accomplishing. When sharing about my experience, especially to those my age and younger, I relay this message in hopes that those like me, who believe they are limited as a young human being, will no longer hold themselves back from setting out to serve others.
Sierra Kanofsky “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” -Dr. Suess I have worked at Freedom School, a summer program for at-risk children that aims to eliminate summer learning loss for low-income families, for three years. My time at Freedom School has been as educational for me as I hope it has been for our scholars. Early on, I worried my work wasn’t making a difference. But then I met Spirit, an energetic kindergartener who didn’t know the alphabet. “Spirit, please focus, you need to trace 10 more a’s,” I exclaimed for the tenth time. After two weeks of begging, cajoling and threatening, Spirit finally started reading: “C-A-T. Cat!” Spirit screamed. She flushed with pride. It was as if this was the first time Spirit had experienced someone who believed in her, and it taught her to believe in herself. During my two to three weeks of Freedom School in the summer, I get to instill values of self-respect and respect for others into these kids. Helping the scholars learn is my way of making a dent in the escalating problem of poverty in my community, and it makes all my hard work helping them learn worth it. Freedom School is a way for me to give back to a community where everyone didn’t receive the same opportunities I did. Teaching children and boosting their self-confidence makes me feel as though I am taking a step towards solving the bigger problem of poverty.
Molly Kennelly “I can’t be found in myself; I discover myself in others. That much is clear. And I suspect that I also love and care for myself in others.” -Hugh Prather For the last five years, I have travelled with a local group to San Pedro Sula in Honduras. We stay at Little Roses, home to 60 girls who have been rescued from abject poverty, neglect or abuse. The younger girls were always excited to participate in the dance, art and English activities I taught, while the teenagers would sit back, watch and sometimes laugh. Each summer, I spent weeks getting to know, teach and learn from the girls who live there. Mauda is one I will never forget. From the first day, Mauda and I broke through the language barrier. I spoke some Spanish, and she attended a bilingual school, so we connected over many things. Unfortunately, Mauda’s family story differs from mine, and that’s why she’s at the home. Mauda and all the girls at Our Little Roses in Honduras will always have a special place in my heart.
Veronica Leahy “You don’t get harmony when everyone sings the same note.” -Doug Floyd Everyone deserves to enjoy the gift of live music. Anyone who wants to play it or listen to it should have the opportunity to do so. Why? Because music is magic. There was the toddler at the Ronald McDonald House whose endless curiosity led her to press each of the many buttons on my saxophone. Or when our jazz band performed old Frank Sinatra standards at an assisted living center, transforming a room filled with wheelchairs into a 40’s jazz club with residents singing and drumming on tables with pencils. Or when a deaf man told me once at a concert that he couldn’t hear a note we played, but he could feel the energy and spirit coming from our instruments. This magic can only happen when we all take our different backgrounds and our unique stories, and we share them together through the common goal of making beautiful sounds and touching someone’s heart. It doesn’t matter how you look or where you go to school when you’re playing music. All that matters is the connection you make with your audience, telling them, “Hey, I see you, I hear you; let’s enjoy this gorgeous moment where our lives have decided to intersect.”
Charles Maund
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” -Mark Twain Volunteering over the past few years has taught me quite a few lessons. First, everyone has a story to tell. Some people are not as eager to share, and others are more than happy to, but they all have unique experiences that I have been able to pick up on over the past few years and learn from. I have also learned that small contributions to individual people can go a long way toward making someone’s day better. Whether it be a friendly, “how are you?” or helping someone pick up a dropped item, it definitely makes an impact on someone’s life to make it just a little easier. Volunteering has also taught me better communication skills and how to have more patience in general. Volunteering requires working within a team and working together to create the best possible experience to impact those around you. I have definitely learned to work as a cog in a machine that impacts the greater society around me.
Elizabeth Rose Nesbit
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” -Helen Keller Service has been a part of my life ever since I was a kid. Starting with cooking in the kitchen with my grandmother for the homeless at the age of 5, I began to see the beauty in service. Because of my grandmother, I grew up with a full understanding of service. I went to an impoverished land in Fiji this past summer to help teach kids English. Most of the kids I met had one room to share with their five siblings, rarely had three meals a day and had to walk seven miles in the morning to get to school. Shockingly, these kids never complained and had beautiful smiles on their faces every day. The beauty in their hearts was nothing I had ever seen before. I was teaching them English, and they were teaching me the beauty in gratitude. Service can mean many things, but to me it means putting a smile on someone’s face. It means changing a bad day to a good day and making a difference in someone’s life. The beauty of service is the fact that such a small positive act can change someone else’s life.
Rhea Shetty
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill
Something extremely under-emphasized with service is that it’s a nontraditional form of education; it forces one to learn through humbling experiences and interactions. Service has been an extremely fulfilling platform that has allowed me to use my passion and interests to impact my greater community. It has fostered a desire in me to empathize with people of diverse perspectives, to value my ability and to continue influencing the world through my thoughts and actions.
Timothy Swimmer
“Be the reason someone else smiles. Be the reason someone else feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.” -Roy T. Bennett Throughout my life, my community has always emphasized service, yet it has shown itself in many separate ways. Usually service is defined as doing things for others, yet I have learned a separate meaning: doing what you enjoy with others. Whether it is teaching young athletes different techniques through drills, or searching and tracking animals in South Africa, my service hours grew, but I felt as if I was having simply too much fun to be doing “service.” My service seemed to be trivial and simple, but the apparent joy I brought to the people who I helped revealed why it was all worth it. I have never seen such graciousness in people all while doing simple tasks. I couldn’t be happier than when one of the players I help teach gives me a high five in the cafeteria. While it is fun, the work that we can all do for people who need it can change generations to come. My life has been given new meaning through the enjoyment I have shared with others.
Kaitlyn Snyder
“You have two hands: one to help yourself, the second to help others.” -Audrey Hepburn Looking back over the past four years, I realize serving others has taught me countless life lessons, as well as significantly changed my view on life. The most unexpected people and encounters have opened my eyes to new perspectives, and each time I find myself learning even more. The children I have worked with both in The Nest and at Lansdowne Elementary, revealed new perspectives on kindness and willingness to love that can seem hard to find in the world. The men I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with at the Charlotte Rescue Mission have taught me more about the limitations of stereotypes and expectations, and have brought a brand new meaning to the word ‘determination.’ In Laps For Love, volunteering with hundreds of other Charlotte teens and kids working to end homelessness, has allowed for the formation of a new community and an appreciation of my generation’s power to change the world. But no matter the venue or service, one thing remains: serving others has created a deeper sense of joy and taught me innumerable lessons about life and how to treat others.
Will Zwetolitz
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” -Albert Einstein You only need to do something meaningful for someone in need once for it to have a lasting impression. It doesn’t need to be a long service trip abroad or require you to start a food drive. Both great ideas, but it can just be something to brighten someone’s day. For most people, that good feeling sticks with them and it turns into a life fulfilled while serving others. The first time I remember serving I was in Grade 3; my class and I were tasked with creating a book about the planets in our solar system that would be sent to another school in an impoverished area. Apparently, I was an artist and ended up drawing a picture of Earth that was used as our cover. The book was sent, and sometime later we received a thank-you picture of the class holding the book we created. The picture of all the smiling kids, holding the picture I drew, stuck with me; I can still remember it nine years later. I was amazed that I could do so much by just sitting in my third-grade desk with just my crayons in hand.