Arizona State University School of Public Affairs – Tempe, Arizona
Spirit of Service Scholars Program – Betty H. Fairfax High School
♥ ASU’s Spirit of Service Scholars program fosters the next generation of students who are interested in careers in public service (including both government and nonprofit careers) at the high school, university, and graduate levels.
♥ The Betty Fairfax High School SOSS Team was selected by ASU. The high schoolers identified two major goals they wished to achieve through the implementation of a service project:
(1) helping others (2) creating a change in their school and local community.
♥ The students identified significant issues with various kinds of violence at their high school – physical fights, domestic violence, and abusive relationships. This had generated negative publicity for their school, which they wanted to counteract.
♥ Korah Ellis took initiative, with the help of her peers, to select the Hands & Words Are Not For Hurting Project®️ as their service project.
♥ The SOSS team decided to organize a 5-K run/walk to raise awareness and support the Hands & Words Not For Hurting Project®️. The event took place at the Betty Fairfax High School track in Laveen, Arizona.
♥ The scholars had an official Pledge banner, stickers, flyers, and posters at the event. These were purchased in advance and the money raised at the run was used to pay for these official support materials.
♥ After the runners completed the 5-K, one of the scholars, Kohl Butteweg, read the Purple Hands Pledge® over the loudspeaker.
♥ Notwithstanding the limited attendance, the overall impact of the run was significant!
♥ The event generated $427.50 to purchase Purple Hands Pledge® official support materials on abuse, violence, and suicide prevention for the school, and to organize the 5-K.
Six scholars from Betty Fairfax High School (Raquel Barraza, Kohl Butteweg, Korah Ellis, Gregory Hernandez, Alex Peeler, Shibly Uddin) and their three Arizona State University mentors (Auriane Koster, Sharlissa Moore, Bryan Tom) held a 5-K run/walk to end violence on May 7th, 2011 at 7:00 am.
Credit: Craig Ross Photography
“We wanted to make a positive impact in our local environment, by showing our peers that conflicts can be resolved through dialogue rather than fighting”
“I am so proud of these students who are leading the way with such courage, compassion, and commitment to stand together to stop the pain and suffering that hurtful words and actions cause. They are a powerful force for positive change in their school and community. I am very grateful for all of their hard work and I am honored and excited to be working with them!”
Everyone was really excited about both raising awareness and funds!
