Prairie Farm High School Holds Community Service Day

The second annual Panther Community Service Day took place on Friday, May 4.  Sponsored by the Prairie Farm High School FCCLA, FFA, and Student Council organizations, the school wide service day included Prairie Farm students in grades K-12 students completing several service projects as a way to give back to the Prairie Farm community. 

Students worked at several locations throughout the village, including raking, cleaning at Evergreen Cemetery, roadside clean-up along County Highway F, visiting residents at Pioneer Nursing Home, and landscaping and other projects around the school building.  Tasks and materials were coordinated with several community groups, including the Pioneer Nursing Home, Prairie Farm Village Board, Prairie Farm Ladies Civic Club, and the Prairie Farm Lions Club.  K-12 faculty and staff members assisted students with the various projects.

“This opportunity is a great way for our students and staff to give back to the community that has supported us throughout the years,” said Patrick Olson, Prairie Farm K-12 Principal, adding, “the goal of this project was to simply give back to the community.”  Kristin Hanson, Prairie Farm FFA Advisor, stated, “ ‘Living to Serve’ is part of our FFA motto, and groups such as FFA and FCCLA have taken on several community service projects in the past.  It is wonderful to get the entire high school and other leadership groups, such as Student Council, involved in serving others and taking pride in their community.”  

Students enjoyed the opportunity to work on the many different projects.  Junior Ben Briel, who worked on roadside clean-up and the Evergreen Cemetery, stated, “It was fun to give back to the community that has given so much to us.” 

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     In August, we took on a 17 year old exchange student from Norway.

Though we called her our “Norwegian Daughter” from the beginning,

it took some time for her to earn that title.

     It is now April and she has passed the family test with flying colors. I

remember the exact moment that it happened – we were making Boller,

a Norwegian sweet roll – for Christmas breakfast. I looked at her

rolling out dough with my 10 yr. old daughter, both covered in flour,

and realized that this would be my only Christmas with her. My eyes

instantly filled with tears.

     The moment passed, but there have been many since. There is a constant

sense of needing to live each moment because there will be no second

chances. Each event, holiday, and family vacation will be both a first and

a last.

     This has been a lesson for me in living my days fully. I am extremely

grateful for the gift of new eyes with which to view my family and for

the Norwegian mother and father across an ocean who were willing to

share their daughter with us. Her presence has taught us to communicate

 more freely and to love more openly. Those are the lessons of a lifetime.

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Students from these countries are waiting for a host family for the

2012/2013 school year.

West Bank   Serbia    Azerbaijan   Ukraine   Montenegro   Hong Kong

Netherlands   Spain   Germany   Italy   Norway   Japan   and more!!

Find out more about welcoming one of these students into your family.

Learn how cultural exchange programs give students in your community

the chance to learn more about the world we share.

Contact: Dixie Klemish    email: dixie.klemish@gmail.com

Phone: 715-237-2883 or 715-642-1589