Heather Wharton

Throughout the 2011-2012 school year, the biggest impact this project has had on me is the advancement in my ability to communicate.  It was difficult communicating with members of the Springfield community because they were never clear on things.  In addition, it was difficult communicating with my summit group.  It was hard to relay a message to three people and try to keep everyone up-to-date.  Even though it was difficult, I have grown as a leader and I am better at being a member of a team.    

Delaney Sweeney

I have accomplished a lot through this service project. I have grown as a leader and my communication skills have also grown. Sometimes it can be a challenge living with the group of people that you have to accomplish a goal with all year long, but I think we did a really good job getting along after deligating each person jobs for the semester. I became a lot more organized and learned to be more assertive. I think summit is a great idea, but there are some kinks that need to be worked out. It has been a wonderful experience for me. I think it will look good on my resume and I will be able to show how I have continued with community service throughout my college career.

Stephanie Dulany

I have learned so much since the beginning of our community service project. The first and most important thing that I have learned is that it is very rewarding to have responsbilities, more than your own, towards giving to the community. The most rewarding thing that we had the pleasure of being involved with was when we went to the Boys and Girls Club to tell them of the importance of keeping the local water streams clean of pollution. They all came from different places around Springfield, some from worse places than others, but they were all so interested in how they could contribute to keeping the local lakes and rivers clean of trash. They were able to come up with their own ideas of how they could help. In a way, it made them feel important that they, young kids, to contribute to a country-wide program of having clean water. I have definately changed as a person, and as a leader since this project began. It is so easy to get caught up in your own life of school, work, homework, etc. However, when you have the responsibility to teach young children things that you were never taught as a kid, it is eye opening. The only way to keep the entire country's water sources clean is to get as many people involved as possible. This aspect has taught me how to be a leader, and how to step out of my comfort zone and help a project that is bigger than myself and my life.

Delaney Sweeney

I have learned a lot regarding water quality and pollution. I knew it was always important, but after reading the books that our community sponsor sent us I feel as though I have gained much more knowledge one the subject at hand. I also feel like this is a very important matter to the Springfield area. When we applied for summit, there was an article that came out in the newpaper about how the Springfield water was give a C grade for water quality. This really impacted our project because we focused on cleaning up the area water. Also, since all rivers and lakes somehow end up flowing in the ocean, this also relates to our project, because the majority of our project deals with oceanic life and the effects pollution has on them.

Stephanie Dulany

Our project focuses on the aspect of keeping our oceans clean of trash and pollution. It teaches people, mainly children, the importance of clean water as it applies to all different times of sea animals. Our community of Springfield Missouri can learn the aspects of keeping the local lakes and streams clean of pollution. It ties in with the mission of Project Aware because all rivers and streams lead to the ocean, either directly or indirectly. The community does their part of keeping the local streams clean, which will, in turn, result in a cleaner ocean environment. This issue impacts me personally as a citizen of Springfield Missouri because, in the community partnership with Project Aware, I can do my part of keeping our local area streams clean of pollution. This impacts my life in a great way because I have been to the ocean several times on vacation, and I can experience the beauties of it and how important it is to keep it clean for the marine wildlife.

Heather Wharton

I have learned that the bodies of water in the Springfield area are not well-kept.  Even Norfork lake in Arkansas has issues with trash build-up.  This is tied to the mission of our community project because Project Aware's mission is to educate people on the importance of clean water.  This issue affects me personally because eighty-eight percent of the pollution in the ocean comes from run-off sources.  In order to improve society's awareness, we have educated elementary aged students and participated in lake clean ups in the Springfield area. 

April 13th-Abby Williams

Throughout the past year, we have worked with Project Aware to help educate school-aged children about the importance of clean water.  We have improved our communication and educating skills by working with the Boys and Girls clubs in Springfield, local Girl Scout troops, and local 4-H clubs.  I have learned that the youth of this generation are eager to learn and make a difference.  Even though Project Aware's main focus is to stop pollution in the ocean, we have made it our goal to educate others on the importance of keeping local waters clean.  88% of water pollution comes from runoff of smaller waterways.  This is how we have made a connection between our community partners larger goal, and our local community issues on a smaller scale.