Originally scheduled for Friday, October 11th, “S.A.I.L. Service Day” was organized by freshman science teacher Charlotte O’Driscoll and her fellow freshmen teachers as a way to bring the freshman class together, while also helping out the community. The day would consist of the whole class visiting a variety of locations across Scituate and beyond. Some of these locations were to be Holly Hill Farm, Scituate Community Christmas, and Mass Audubon.

Unfortunately, O’Driscoll was devastated when the day had to be postponed due to rough weather. “130 out of our 200 freshmen would have been either at the beach or outside on a farm,” she said, adding, “we didn’t feel safe…and we didn’t have alternatives for that large of a group.”

O’Driscoll was hoping these service opportunities would “bring the class together and start their high school career.” Unfortunately, due to the timeliness of some of the activities, the day was not rescheduled.

According to O’Driscoll, participation in the service day was intended to build a strong sense of pride in the Scituate community.  She wanted freshmen “to develop a connectedness to their town, and realize how important it is to be a part of your community, to take care of your community, and to make it a better place to live.”

Of course, the participating organizations would have benefitted from the planned service day, too. Beyond helping with the workload, student volunteers could also help build a connection between local organizations and Scituate High School. O’Driscoll explained these relationships are helpful “whether it’s when they need volunteers for events, but also for educational purposes, outreach programs, and things like that.”