Going into the 2024-2025 year, Community of Caring welcomed a new teacher, Tori Bergstrom, to lead the club. She has an extensive record of service, traveling with Youthlinc being one of her greatest accomplishments.
Youthlinc is an organization that takes high school students and adults on trips all over the world. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, they organize service trips for anyone who wants to go. This is one of the many organizations that Community of Caring works with and supports.
Nico Golesis is the co-director of the Community of Caring club at Skyline High School. He has been a part of the club since his Sophomore year and loves talking about his experiences. Something he loves about the class is how it feels like a family and gives members “The sense of a supportive community around a good common goal.”
The love of service is what all of the members have in common. Chairman Addi Ballard has also been a member since her Sophomore year. Talking about why she joined the club leadership, she said,
“I wanted to be on the board, because I thought it would be fun to plan my own service activities and do my part in the community.” Joining the board for this club requires an application, letters of recommendation, and an interview with the teacher and previous director of the club. Being on the board requires planning an activity at least once a month and participating in the service projects.
There are different sections of the club: Education, hunger, homelessness, refugee, medical/elderly, environment, animal, club, service scholar, and team forum. Each of the sections have different projects and activities. Most recently for education, a large group of the club went up Milcreek Canyon to guide the Learning for Life camp. Andrew Hammer is one of the club’s chairman. In regards to his volunteer experience, he lit up, saying, “ My volunteer experience has changed my perspective on people, because I tend to judge people before I get to know them. From participating in class activities and service projects, it has opened my eyes to how much people care.” Some of the activities this club sponsors are food banks, serving food in Downtown Salt Lake at St. Vincents, volunteering at elementary schools across the valley, and so much more.
It’s not just a club, but also a class. Madison Reynolds is a member of Community of Caring. She took the half year class her sophomore year and now is in the full year. She is not on the board, but that hasn’t affected her experience. She said, “The sense of community is something that I love having while going through the trials of high school.”
Annabelle Gay, head of Elderly/Medical, creates stunning projects. She explained, “Recently we went and did an art show for the seniors at Spring Gardens. It was an amazing experience talking with the elders and hearing what they’ve been up to.” Connecting the generations through her projects, Gay loves to see the impact from her activities.
Mathew Hicks, a senior at Skyline and a member of the club, beams about his experience. “Community of Caring creates so many opportunities for service and helps me better myself and connect my community,” he said.
Willa Debirk, head of Homelessness, encourages anyone interested to join the class. She said, “Yes, you should take Community of Caring because it gives you so many opportunities for service, finding friends, joining Skyline’s extra curricular community, service hours for service scholars, and learning more about yourself.”
