Fairfield Local High School continues Lions Care Day tradition

The following is a report of Fairfield Local High School’s third annual Lions Care Day, written and submitted by FHS students. Photos and information are courtesy of Amanda Martinez, Fairfield High School science teacher and adviser of the Jostens Renaissance Club and Science Club.

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Fairfield Local High School hosts 3rd annual Lions Care Day
By Haydon Barrera and Alyssa Burleson

Fairfield Local High School continues to lead the way in community service. This is the third year that Fairfield Local has hosted its annual Lions Care Day, which centers itself on individual community service acts to give back to the surrounding communities. 

Lions Care Day is hosted by the school’s Jostens Renaissance Club and Student Council. The participants include the Student Ambassadors, Science Club, Spanish Club, National Honor Society, Robotics Club, Drama Club, FFA and Book Club. 

The day began with an inspirational message from the principal of Fairfield Local High School, Mr. Stephen Hackett. He began the morning gathering all of the high school students for a meeting where he said, “We are our brother’s keepers.” 

He then went on to say that his favorite part of Lions Care Day is the involvement by the students to give back to the community, which teaches students positive values. This exemplifies the purpose of Lions Care Day, which is giving back and helping our community. 

The Josten’s Renaissance Club and Student Council advisers also reflected on the event. Mrs. Amanda Martinez, the Josten’s Renaissance Club adviser, said, “I like seeing the diversity of the clubs and the activities that they complete.” 

Also, the Student Council adviser, Mrs. Lisa Wilt, said “she enjoys Lions Care Day because the students, faculty and staff come together to serve the community.”

Lions Care Day enables faculty and the student body to collaborate to give back to their community, and the holiday season is the perfect time to do so. 

The students were provided a pizza lunch, which was generously sponsored by Southern Hills Community Bank and Papa Johns of Hillsboro, Ohio. 

Fairfield Local wishes readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Select Student Council and Jostens Renaissance Club members interviewed club members and wrote the below articles overviewing the service activities completed by each group.

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FFA organizes projects for Highland County Homeless Shelter
By Avery Teeters

During the busy holiday season, Fairfield FFA prides themselves on giving back to our community in a meaningful, impactful approach. During the annual Lions Care Day, clubs combine their efforts for a day full of community service. Fairfield FFA made hygiene kits and handmade tie blankets for the Highland County Homeless Shelter.

The FFA held a donation drive for fabric, toothpaste, soap and a variety of other hygiene items. 

Fairfield FFA Treasurer Maddie Caldwell said, “This is a rewarding project that we are able to see from start to finish, allowing us to give back during the holiday season.” 

The club made a total of 12 tie blankets and 50 hygiene kits for the shelter. Both of these items are essential for those in need. 

“It is great to see FFA members working together for a common goal to help others,” FFA Adviser Taylor Thomas said. 

Fairfield FFA is ecstatic to do their part in lending a helping hand during this joyful season of giving.

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Student Ambassadors share holiday greetings with first responders 
By Haydon Barrera

This year for Lions Care Day, the Fairfield Local Student Ambassadors decided to spread holiday cheer by making Christmas cards for the local first responders. 

The Student Ambassadors decided to do this because often the hard work and dedication from these first responders goes unnoticed, especially around the busy holiday season when they often put in long hours every day ensuring the safety of our community.

The students who participated in this activity were supplied with all of the necessities — cards, art utensils, stickers and paper crafts — to help enable their creativity to come out. 

The Student Ambassador leader, Ms. Amy Buddelmeyer, said, “My favorite part of Lions Care Day is seeing all of the kids come together to give back to their community.” 

One student who participated, Secret Harvey, said, “Lions Care Day has allowed me to meet new people while giving back to my community.” 

Although meeting new people was not an original goal of Lions Care Day, it has become something that many students look forward to.

Fairfield Local High School is optimistic to continue the trend of community service projects near the holiday season, while expanding each year.

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Drama Club crochets scarves for elementary students
By Maggi Sowders

While we approach the colder weather going into the Christmas season, the Drama Club is very excited to be making scarves for Fairfield Local’s annual Lions Care Day. 

Drama Club always admires this day because they always try to include crocheting into it. Last year, Drama Club crocheted hats, and this year they are crocheting scarves for the elementary students. 

Drama Club had a lot of fun while they were learning new skills and giving back to the community. Advisers James Knisley and Shelby Gagliardi showed the students how to crochet and let them pick out an assortment of colorful yarn for their scarves. 

Gagliardi stated, “Drama Club always enjoys Lions Care Day because it's a way to give back to the community while still having fun. We're really enjoying it this year.” 

A four-year member, Isaac Burns said, “Probably the most fun thing about Lions Care Day in Drama Club is learning new skills and having fun while giving back to the community.” 

All the students made at least one scarf, so the elementary students will be given many scarves for the cold weather. 

In conclusion, Drama Club is always excited to continue helping out and giving back. Lions Care Day put on by Fairfield Local is a beautiful way to bring students together, teach them new skills and help out the community. 

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Robotics team develops robot, ornaments to spread holiday cheer
By William Rowe

In the spirit of giving back to the community, the Fairfield Local School’s Robotics team has decided to spread festive spirit using their engineering skills for this year’s Lions Care Day. The robotics team have taken a creative approach to bring joy to the teachers and staff by designing a candy-delivering robot and 3D designing and printing personalized 3D-printed ornaments for those in the hospital on Christmas.

The creation of the robot was led by the team members Ethan Morris, Raymond Gleadle, Grant Baker, Christian Ahrmann, Haydon Barrera and Jordan Bennington. Together they finished the robot and spent the day delivering candy to the high school and middle school. 

Ethan Morris really showed his dedication to improving the moods of those around him by saying, "Hard work pays off at the end of it." 

The candy-delivering robot was programmed and connected to a remote controller that would help it to navigate the school's hallways and deliver treats to teachers as a holiday gift for their hard work and dedication to our school.

The robotics team not only created a candy-delivery robot, but in addition to the candy-delivering robot, they designed and 3D printed ornaments for the hospital patients. The personalized ornaments are meant to cheer those up who are in the hospital on Christmas day. Their hope is that these ornaments will spread Christmas cheer all throughout our town. 

Mr. Roush, the adviser for the robotics team, remarked, "The Fairfield Robotics Team wishes you all a very merry Christmas.” Their candy-delivering robot and custom-designed ornaments not only spread holiday cheer, but also improve our school spirit.

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Spanish Club bakes dog treats as part of annual project
By Alyssa Burleson

Fairfield Local High School’s Spanish Club is composed of students who are in either Spanish III and IV. Spanish Club provides students an outlet to learn and experience different cultures and languages. Spanish Club, advised by Ms. Melanie Harper, takes a unique approach to giving back this Lions Care Day. 

It has now become tradition for the Spanish Club to make dog biscuits for the Highland Humane Society and the Highland County Dog Pound, as this is the third year Ms. Melanie Harper has been orchestrating this. These biscuits are made from a mixture of organic flour and cheese. Students then work to assemble the biscuits by rolling the dough out and cutting them into biscuit shapes, and then the treats are baked by the adviser. 

When I asked Harper why she chose to do this for Lions Care Day, she said that, “My own dog came from the humane society, and we appreciate everything they do.” She also referenced a Gandhi quote, which says, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” 

I also had asked some students what they thought about Lions Care Day, more specifically the approach Spanish Club took, and junior member Jobey Hattan said, “Making dog treats helps train the dogs, prompting the dogs to be more likely for adoption.”

With the biscuits made by the Spanish Club, these dogs at the Highland Humane Society and the Highland County Dog Pound will have a merry Christmas this winter season. 

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Science Club creates dog toys for humane society
By Campbell Anne Friend

The charitable outreach of Lions Care Day is not exclusive to the human race. A few clubs have dedicated their time and resources to helping the dogs of our community. The Science Club has decided to make dog toys for the local humane society.

Equipped with fabric and tennis balls, the Science Club is using their creative minds to make enrichment toys for dogs. The students are encouraged to think of their own dogs when
creating the toys. 

Club adviser Mrs. Amanda Martinez says, “I enjoy working with my students to find creative ways to make enrichment toys for our local dogs. We think of our own pets and how we could make others happy." 

The students enjoy coming up with ideas and working with their hands. 

When asked what he thought of the activity, student Janre Lerio perfectly sums up the Science Clubs contribution to Lions Care Day by saying, “We love dogs.”

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Book Club volunteers at elementary school
By Braylee Bartley

Strengthening the community one book at a time, the FHS Book Club spent the day making bookmarks and reading alongside the elementary students. 

The elementary classes were guided by a Book Club member to the High School Library, where the children sat at tables with crafters to make their holiday bookmarks. Then they were paired with a reader, where they selected a seasonal book to read together. 

When asked what Lions Care Day meant to her, student Olivia Hunter stated, “Lions Care Day allows us to help others and have fun while strengthening the community.” 

The FHS Book Club worked as one to organize the activities for the children, striving to make sure they enjoyed their time, encouraged positivity and spread kindness. 

When asked what the idea was behind the Lions Care Day activity, Book Club adviser Anita Miller stated, “The Book Club brainstormed ideas and voted to read to the elementary students. We wanted to share our love of books and the holiday spirit with kids.” Truly an inspirational club adviser, Mrs. Miller plans to continue to spread kindness throughout the community and share her love and passion for reading. 

Book Club members can all agree that we need to show the children the love for books before they disappear forever. Although the times are changing, as long as the younger generations continue to have the opportunity to experience a love for books, the burning fire of passion for them will never extinguish. That is the goal of Book Club: strengthening and bringing the community together, one book at a time.

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NHS teams up with elementary students for nursing home service project
By Caitlyn Quickle

Service is one of the four qualities that serve as standards of the National Honor Society, and that is exactly what the program achieved. Lions Care Day is the perfect time for this club to honor their prestigious name and hold true to their standards. In their act of service, this group handmade ornaments and cards for The Laurels of Hillsboro Nursing Home.

Students from Fairfield Local High School visited the fourth grade students to make an ornament and a card for each resident of the Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. These gifts are a perfect way to spread the holiday cheer for the occupants who may not be able to travel to their family and friends. 

Adviser Ms. Kristi Welling stated, “Lions Care Day is a day to look forward to in order to provide for our community.” 

Not only do the residents benefit from this act of kindness, but it also teaches the fourth graders to enjoy serving their community. 

“We hope that this helps boost the holiday spirit, and we wish you all a merry Christmas,” said NHS member Faith Donley. 

Our involvement during the holiday season is what Christmas is all about.

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Art Club hosts craft project for kindergarten students 
By Rilee Quickle

Here at Fairfield, the Art Club gives students a safe space to express their love for the arts. To share their love, the Art Club participated in making snowmen crafts with our kindergarten classes here at Fairfield. 

In the pursuit of creating a lasting impact, the Art Club used their snowman craft to help teach cutting, gluing and coloring skills. 

One sophomore club member emphasized that, “It was a joy spending time with the kindergarteners. You could tell they valued our time together.” 

The youth is responsible for creating a healthy future for all of us. By being able to dedicate our day to them, the Art Club hopes to give them new opportunities to interact and construct using their creativity. 

When asked about the art club’s activities, club adviser Sarah Horsley stated, “This Lions Care Day has probably been the most fun I've participated in. I think it was the most fun because I've been able to see the students actually interact.” 

Overall, the Art Club did a fantastic job in sparking creativity in the next generation of humanity. 

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FHS students reflect on ‘reason for the season’
By Campbell Anne Friend

With dog toys and treats made, crafts and cards finished, Fairfield local students enjoyed pizza provided by Southern Hills Community Bank and Papa Johns to conclude this special day. 

It is important for students to remember the reason for the season, and a schoolwide, community service-based event is the best way to do so. 

The participants of Lions Care day would like to wish all a very merry Christmas and remind everyone to remember their neighbors this holiday season.