H2O's HOME ALONE Kicks Off With Leadership Retreat
Attendees had a great time learning about the HOME ALONE Project at H2O's Leadership Retreat!
photo by H2O student leader, Kelsey Dalton
Lakewood’s H2O (Help to Others) service learning program is expanding its student leadership through HOME ALONE. I am excited to be a part of the HOME ALONE Research and Development Team that is currently working to create four events to be held during the winter of this 2019-2020 school year. It will be geared towards nine to twelve year old students, as well as their parents. Those attending will have the chance to learn from both high school students and local experts, such as firefighters, police officers, and internet crime detectives, on how youth can best stay safe when home alone.
Our eleven member HOME ALONE Research and Development Team hosted a leadership retreat at Garfield Middle School on Sunday, October 6th. We brought in nearly thirty additional high school students to learn more about what roles they will have the opportunity to play in making these events impactful and successful. Through various techniques such as the utilization of technology and small group presentations, the attendees were able to learn about each topic being taught during the future H2O HOME ALONE events. The new leaders will eventually join and co-teach one of these groups, focusing on issues such as First Aid, Phone and Door Safety, Internet Safety, and more.
I have worked hard over this summer with the rest of the HOME ALONE Research and Development Team, to lay the foundation for bringing this amazing program back to Lakewood. It has been an incredible experience so far to work with my peers in helping to develop this program. Now, we get to start the most important part: helping kids in Lakewood prepare themselves for situations that may arise when home alone. We have done a lot of research and learning over the summer, and we can’t wait to share it all with our younger peers in Lakewood this winter!
H2O’s R&D Team was honored to have Mayor Mike Summers attend the leadership retreat. He engaged with student leaders in discussing how to address resolutions to potentially unsafe situations that children might encounter when home alone. For those interested, registration for the HOME ALONE events will begin in November. Details about signing up for this program will be available soon.
Sydney Wilhelmy is a senior at Lakewood High School.