Stephanie Dulany

This school year I had the option to choose to live in a variety of places. Summit Park Leadership was one of them and it offered me the opportunity to become a leader in a community service project that affects our local Ozarks. A nice perk that came with the housing was that it was, in fact, a miniature house with bedrooms, bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and a washer/dryer setup. These amenities appealed to me, alongside the hours of community service that I could log and put into my resume for post-bachelor schools. At first, I loved the idea of being in my very own "house" with a kitchen and everything, but, as the days moved on, those things dwindled away and were no longer as new and exciting. However, I now have the responsibility of fulfilling my application requirements that let me into this program, which involve spending a certain amount of hours with kids teaching them the importance of having clean water. I can see now that these things really appeal to me more than the idea of having my own kitchen and washer and dryer. I have the opportunity to physically take part in a project that helps out, not only myself, but our entire Ozark area. The need for clean water is not stressed nearly enough these days, and we, as a group, are taking it upon ourselves to teach as many younger kids as possible the importance of having clean water. We want to take kids on fieldtrips to the lake and have them do fun activities that gear towards why the Earth needs clean water. I hope to gain more community service experience for our local area, and I hope to make a good impression towards these kids. My personal goal is to make their learning fun, but also educational, so that they will take what they learned to their parents and tell them all about their experiences. Everyone knows that we need clean water to make the world go around, just not enough people care, or act on that need. This is what I hope to change.

Abby Williams

I chose to live in Summit Park because I saw it as an excellent opportunity to become involved in my community.  Our group works with an organization called "Project Aware," which promotes the importance of clean water through education and involvement.  By living in this environment and volunteering with this group I hope we can make a difference and share the importance of keeping our waterways clean.  Our group volunteered in Arkansas to participate in a clean up project, and we have another clean up planned as well.  We also plan to work with local 4H and Girl Scout organizations in the Springfield area.  I hope to gain leadership and volunteer experience, make a difference in our community, and get to know everyone in the Summit Park Leadership Organization a little better.  I look forward to working on our project throughout the year.

Heather Wharton

I chose to live in Summit Park because I wanted to be more involved in community service.  I hope to gain leadership experience and teamwork experience.  All our plans are falling into place.  I helped at the lake clean up in Arkansas, which was a blast!  Taking action made me realize how much I enjoy partnering with Project Aware.

Delaney Sweeney

I chose Summit because it was a great opportunity to continue my community service. I have always been involved in community service projects and when I heard about this, it was perfect! I know I will gain a lot from this experience. I will gain leadership and organizational skills. I will also gain cooperative learning skills because we all have to work together to make this project work.
-Delaney Sweeney

Summit Project 2011-2012

We are students at Drury University who are partnering with the Project Aware Foundation to live in Summit Park for 2011-2012.  The Foundation conserves underwater environments through education, advocacy, and action.  We chose to live in Summit Park because we wanted to be involved in an organization that Drury wasn't a part of.  We plan on contributing to the foundations efforts by educating a 4H group and volunteering at lake clean ups.  Our goals are to gain volunteers from Drury to attend our lake clean ups and gain leadership experience.  My water, my responsibility!

So for we have volunteered in Arkansas, at the Norfork Lake's annual clean up.  They provide boats and food at no cost! We went scuba diving and picked up trash at the bottom of the lake.  It was a fun and great way to help keep our water clean! We look forward to educating the 4H group and having a lake clean up of our own!