‘Extraordinary Impact’ Provided by Service Week

Nearly 7,000 hours of work were provided, 37 deserving nonprofit organizations were helped, much bonding between students, faculty, and staff took place, Williamson’s mission became known to many for the first time, and, Williamson’s young men learned the good feeling one can only get from helping others.

This all took place from March 15-18 as almost the entire Williamson community, about 250 students, 50 faculty and staff, and several trustees and alumni, took part in Service Week.

President Michael Rounds said, “The first-ever Williamson Service Week — an entire week dedicated to our core value of service — is now history and it was a fabulously successful event that was special and memorable for all involved. As I visited some of the local sites, the feedback I heard was overwhelmingly positive from the organizations we supported. They were impressed with the hard work and great attitude of our students and very appreciative of the help we provided them. We truly did make an extraordinary impact.”

Executive Vice President and COO Greg Lindemuth, who was instrumental in organizing Service Week, along with Thomas Wisneski, vice president of research and assessment, and Doug Turrell, vice president of plans and operations, said “This was one of the largest projects Williamson has taken on in its entire history and, without a doubt, the combined efforts of our students, faculty, and staff made an extraordinary impact in our community. It was a very successful week with much work accomplished and 37 worthy nonprofit organizations helped.”

Lindemuth said the feedback from participants is still being gathered and, so far, it is overwhelmingly positive and is a confirmation that the goals were achieved.

“One of our goals was to have students from different shops and class years work together so bonds could be formed between students who don’t normally interact together. I do think this was achieved. They also formed closer bonds with faculty and staff by working side by side for a week.”

Other goals achieved include providing a sense of satisfaction from helping others, spreading Williamson’s name throughout the community, and emphasizing to the students the importance of providing service to others, a trait it is hoped they will carry throughout their lives.

“I think our students were excited about taking part in Service Week and they certainly represented Williamson very well. We are all very pleased with their work accomplished, gentlemanly conduct, and professionalism. Many of the people who work at the nonprofits we helped were very impressed with them.”

The Service Week nonprofits that were included were mainly in Delaware County, but others were in Philadelphia; Chester, Montgomery, and Berks Counties; the state of Delaware; as well as Harlan, KY, and Lima, Peru. The sites were suggested by all involved — students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the Board of Trustees. Some of the organizations have had relationships with Williamson for many years and for others this was the first time they received help from the school. The students at each site were supervised by Williamson personnel.

A sampling of comments from those involved are:

Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Chester
Jim Jensen 1W6, Horticulture, Landscaping, and Turf Management
“I’m ending my Williamson career with a gold medal at the Flower Show and now Service Week. This is fantastic! I usually get paid for doing what we are doing here and it’s weird not getting paid, but seeing the faces of appreciation from those we are helping makes it worth it.”

Tom Zane, Technology Instructor
“We’re doing a good service here and it’s nice working with students I don’t usually meet. We have been talking and laughing, but also providing a real team effort. Each one of us has his own expertise and is showing others how to do things.”

Hedgerow Theatre, Media
Penny Reed, Executive Director
“Williamson and Hedgerow have had a wonderful partnership for a long time and we are excited they included us in Service Week. We could not possibly do everything we dream of doing ourselves and this extra help is amazing. Pete [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][D’Orazio] has been a great leader and works so well with the students.”

Roosevelt School, Media
Dan Simcox, Assistant Public Works Foreman, Middletown Township
“The guys from Williamson are a great asset and we appreciate that they came to help us clean this old school. We are trying to make it safe for township use. This is a heck of a job. It’s dirty and the things we are moving are heavy. We are glad to have this extra help.”

Elwyn, Media
Sam Wrightson, Vice President of Education
“It’s a good feeling to give to others. The jobs we are doing here are things they don’t have the time or staff to take care of and we’re glad to help out.”

Community Interactions, Broomall and Swarthmore
Michelle Martella, Office of Institutional Advancement
“I feel like we are doing a lot of good to help an organization that maybe can’t afford this sort of help. I am enjoying seeing the students participating and working hard.”

Jo’wan Livers 1W7, Machine Tool Technology
“It feels good to know you are helping others. I’m glad to have helped.”

Alex Cornaglia, Program Coordinator
“We think it’s fantastic that Williamson people came out to help us. It speeded up our timeline considerably. We needed to upgrade our gym and we really appreciate them taking the time to help out.”

Delaware County Pregnancy Center, Chester
Dan Massuto, Construction Technology Instructor
“We all feel good about Service Week and the help we are providing others. The Pregnancy Center offers free service and we are enthusiastic about helping out and giving back to the community.”

Tishiema Lacy, Pregnancy Center Employee
“We are very grateful for the help being provided by Williamson. They have done a great deal of work here and we appreciate their giving back to the community.”

Larry Lockhart 1W6, Construction Technology-Carpentry
“Giving back to the community like this has been a great experience. It’s always nice to help people. I think everyone is working well together. We are having a great time and getting to know some other guys we didn’t know before.”

Salvation Army, Chester
Weemie Kingham, Placement Director
“Our group is a mixture of class years and shops and they are all working together wonderfully and doing an incredible job. The Salvation Army gets a newly painted gym and we get alot out of it knowing we are doing something to help a great organization that helps others.”

Isiah Taltoan 1W7, Paint and Coatings Technology
“It’s true that it is better to give than to receive. We are giving back to the community and it feels good. Our combined team is a jack of all trades and we using all of our skills and are working well together.”

Andre Merrell 1W7, Paint and Coatings Technology
“It was nice working with guys I don’t normally work with and it was nice giving back to the community because I live near here and know of the good work the Salvation Army does.”

Hakim Andrews 1W6, Construction Technology-Carpentry
“I have been working with a bunch of painters and they showed me what to do. It was nice to experience a different trade and expand my knowledge.”

Lillian Priester, Administrative Assistant
“It’s wonderful to have Williamson people come here and provide a needed service. We are thankful they picked us to do a project. They have been working in the gym which gets a lot of use so it is important to have it painted and well lit. It’s a great service they are doing and I’m impressed with the young men. They are wonderful and Williamson is a great school.”

Frederick Douglas Christian School, Chester
Tom Concannon 1W7, Horticulture, Landscaping and Turf Management
“Doing community service is different from what I am used to doing and I think it’s a great thing. The kids here look at you and think we’re doing a good thing and it is inspiring them to want to do a good thing. This is a wonderful feeling. We definitely are improving this building and are getting to know new fellow students.”

Chester Fire House, Chester
Art Lallo 7W9, Board of Trustees
“This was the best four vacation days I have ever taken. I can’t remember the last time I had so much enthusiasm coming to work. As a trustee and graduate, it is an honor to serve and work with Williamson students. Each day I learned ten new things about the trade. We are one team and helping Williamson and the community is our goal.”

Tyler Arboretum, Media
Chuck Feld, Horticulture, Landscaping and Turf Management
“For the past five years, we have done a lot of work at Tyler, but usually for just half a day. It’s great to have 13 guys here for a week. The guys got into it and accomplished a lot.”

Lions Club, Aston
Zach Paterson 1W8, Construction Technology-Carpentry
“I feel good at the end of the day knowing I helped people. It’s also been nice getting to know some guys I didn’t know well. We talked about our shops.”

Stacy Starr 6W8, Alumni Association President
“The students are very enthusiastic and really enjoying the work they are doing and I’m enjoying working with the students. They are acting professionally and representing Williamson very well.”

Bob Shufelt, Financial Secretary, Lions Club
“The Lions are a service organization and what the students are doing falls in line completely with our mission. The students are great and are doing a good job and they are fun to be around. They are working hard building our shed.”

Delaware County Technical High School, Aston
Anne Asmann, Mathematics Instructor
“All of my crew went to this school before coming to Williamson so they were very enthusiastic about coming back to help out. We accomplished a lot for a great cause. This school only has one full-time maintenance man and he could never have done this much work himself. The students come from four shops and all class years and are working well together. We did some painting and have no painters so this is great experience for them.”

Tom Carpenter, Head Custodian
“I think this project is a wonderful experience for Williamson students and for our students. Our students are seeing what the future can hold for them by observing Williamson students working so hard. This inspires them to have a good work ethic so they can get somewhere in life, too. They are doing a great job, staying focused, and completing their work. This is great.”

Delaware County Library System, Rose Tree Park, Media
Dave Belanger, Director of Delaware County Libraries
“Having Williamson students come out here to help us worked out great. They work so fast they have installed all of the posts we needed for our storybook walk and they just started. This was a project that would have taken us two days and they did it in half a day. They are great workers, a nice group of guys, and do quality work.”

Stonybank Church, Glen Mills
John Curran 0W5, Paint and Coatings Technology Instructor
“These students are very willing to learn and do it correctly and it is a treat working with them. They are working very hard they have only taken one break this whole time. I have students from several shops and they are working well together.”

Dave White, Stonybank Church Member
“I think it’s tremendous Williamson is helping us. We’d have to pay someone to do this work or get volunteers, which is hard because we are a small church. This is just terrific. The sanctuary looks nicer and brighter.”

Good Works, Coatesville
Bill King, Grounds Maintenance Technician
“We are definitely doing a good thing here. This is a project that really needed to be taken care of. The elderly man who lives here is on oxygen and doesn’t have a lot of money and his house is in very bad shape. We are putting in a bathroom and kitchen and generally fixing things that need fixed. He’s very appreciative.”

Sharing With Appalachian People, Harlan, KY
Jay Merillat, Dean of Admissions
“Spending the better part of six days with these guys was one of the best experiences in my nearly 20 years at Williamson. These young men were true ambassadors for our college. All of the staff at SWAP could not believe the diligence of our students and they are hopeful we can send another team down in the future.”

Barry Bishop, SWAP Volunteer
“It was an absolute delight to work with these young people. Their work ethic, energy, and faith was evident in all my interactions with the group. They represented your school in the best way possible, and as someone who has hired quite a few students in the past years, I would hire any one of them in an instant if I had the chance. The end result was superb and will make it far easier to do vehicle maintenance in the future. I just wanted you to know these people made a very positive impression on me. You should be proud of these students and staff and how they represented your school!”

Nibakebo, “Children of the Forest,” Cantagallo, Peru
Rev. Mark Specht 7W7, Chaplain
“It was a place of extreme poverty and the work was hard in the hot sun, but we walked away blessed having been able to live among them those few days. Perhaps our attention and commitment might awaken the Peruvian government to step up and help their people.”

A Shipibo Leader
“Such a beautiful spirit with them,” referring to the Williamson students

Photographs and information from Service Week are available on Williamson’s social media sites:

• https://www.instagram.com/williamsontrades/ (@williamsontrades)
• https://twitter.com/williamsontrade (@williamsontrade); and
• https://facebook.com/WilliamsonTrades

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