Students need support from another, no matter how big or small the need is. Some may need funding for large projects, while some just need a small boost to get them going.
The Upper Arlington Education Foundation is known to help give out grants to the school and community of Upper Arlington. They can give large grants to help fund for school trips, author interactions and overall more direct approaches to helping UA. However, the Upper Arlington Student Foundation is a small group of students who help give out smaller grants towards anyone who needs a small stepping stone for service opportunities. This small foundation of dedicated students was started after the disaster of hurricane Katrina in 2005, when many students wanted to help communities recover from the damages.
Leading the students is Career Development and Service-Learning Specialist Leah Miller. Her and her team of dedicated students work together to help students, and the community of UA. As Miller states, their role as the UASF is to help students serve and grow.
“Our first prong is we raise funds to help other people serve and the second prong is we serve ourselves, we also raise money to help other people serve,” Miller said. “Our students are getting that real world experience… you should be on it because it’s giving you practicalexperience in how grants are written, how they’re funded.”
The students that are a part of the foundation are not just there for the looks or attention. They are purely interested and enjoy helping the community they reside in. Junior Ada Butsko explained why she enjoys being a part of the UASF.
“I love being a part of it! We have a small group, so we communicate really well and it
feels good to do important work in the community even with just a few of us,” Butsko said. “I love connecting with people and seeing what awesome projects people do. And of course we try to maximize our impact through the service we do as a group. I love being involved in the community and helping people help other people.”
Junior Casey Chaudhari has a similar opinion on what he enjoys about being in the foundation.
“It’s very fun because it’s such a small group of people, and so we’re all ñessential members of the group and have an equal voice. There’s no president or teachers running it, but the students as a whole run the club with guidance from Dr. Miller,” Chaudhari said. “It helps us be more aware how service in our community affects the students of our high school, and exposes us to more opportunities to serve in our community.”
The UASF gives out smaller grants, averaging $200-250 per grant, so it is a perfect way for students who want to get a jumpstart on their passions. The foundation is very open to what they give their grants for, as long as it is safe, legal and, most importantly, has a service factor. Students can directly ask Miller, Butsko, Chuadhari or anyone that is a part of the foundation if a grant is ever needed.
Regardless of how simple this foundation may seem, it is not something that anyone could simply just waltz into like a student created club. The main method of how students are recruited is typically through word of mouth. Each year the existing members of the foundation will go out and try to recruit someone they deem fit, and willing, to be a part of the foundation and report it back to Miller.
