Experiential Learning: Giving Back

Every junior that comes through Calvin Christian High School has to do an experiential learning project, which normally consists of a volunteering opportunity and a final product (often a presentation of some sort). These often include volunteering opportunities such as Feed My Starving Children, Second Harvest and Prism (the latter two are food shelves). This year, we have something even more unique. Claire Stephens, a junior, is volunteering at Children’s Hospital where she is visiting patients in their rooms and bringing them to their playrooms. This experience is especially unique to Claire because she was once a patient at Children’s Hospital. In Claire’s words, “When I was 8 years old, it was discovered that I had a brain tumor, so I had that removed at Children’s Hospital...  I was a patient there for 1 and ½ to two months.”  She continued, “I chose to volunteer at Children’s Hospital because I had a lot of volunteers come and visit me while I was a patient and I meant a lot to me, so I wanted to be able to give back to the hospital... I decided that I would go visit with the patients.” As for her final product, Claire is not sure, but she wants to combine an interview with the volunteer coordinator there with some journals that she will have written throughout her visits.This project is further proof that learning outside of the classroom is a worthwhile, impactful experience.

-- Nathan Bonnema