Spartans’ selfless service

Photo

Photo

Photo

By SHAIYLA HAKEEM

shakeem@vindy.com

Boardman High School’s swimmers and divers got out of the water and in to the community to spread the spirit of giving over the holiday season.

Assistant coach Carlo Cordon envisioned an activity for the team that he called Boardman Team Unity Building.

In addition to academic and swimming success, Cordon and head coach Terri O’Halloran wanted the team to do something that would increase camaraderie and aid the community at the same time.

“We wanted the kids to act as a group and a family,” O’Halloran said.

The idea was presented at the pre-season meeting to the swimmers and divers as an event that needed to be completed by the month of December. They were split into four groups and were required to choose a community service event to participate in.

These community service activities took preparation, effort, dedication and sacrifice of personal time.

The Spartan swimmers were required to not only draft and complete a community service project, but also maintain a six-day practice schedule.

Sundays are the only days that Spartans have off, according to Cordon.

O’Halloran says that the students had to really brainstorm to come up with a community service project, but they were really excited about taking on the challenge.

One of the activities included raising money for gifts and donations for the Salvation Army. This group donated several tubes of toothpaste and over 250 rolls of toilet paper.

For another group, providing toys for neglected and abused children was their focus. They managed to give approximately 25 stuffed animals in support of their cause.

One of the groups gave up their Sunday before the holidays to cater to the homeless by serving them hot meals at the at St. Vincent Church.

The final group chose to share the wealth during the holidays by helping out a Boardman family in need. This group of swimmers and divers bought much needed supplies for a local family and presented them with a donation of approximately $875.

O’Halloran says that the project was a success and it is planned to be implemented as an annual event. All of the goals were met and the mission of building a closer team bond was accomplished.

“This has become a much tighter group than previous years,” he said, “I would like to do this each year.”