While her title is unclear, Rebekah Strauss said that she’s thrilled to always keep the school on its toes in regards to volunteerism and student action.
By KRYSTAL NURSE
The Sun
Clearview Regional High School senior Rebekah Strauss, of Mullica Hill, entered the high school almost unsure of what to do, but after anchoring several school-wide events and tracking the district’s progress in giving, she said it has helped her reshape her future aspirations.
Despite the current news of the district’s ongoing contract situation with the board of education and the teachers union, Strauss said she tries to seek out opportunities for herself to volunteer.
“I try to find as much community service as I can do, but I know that through National Honor Society students are given community service opportunities through the clubs and activities,” said Strauss. “There are clubs I’m an officer in and I try to create opportunities that a lot of students can participate in that will give them NHS hours they need or just if they want to volunteer and give their time.”
Strauss is also a member of the school’s SURE Club (Students United for Respect and Equality) that hosted a Halloween breakfast on Oct. 28 and has a trip to Camden in the near future to give back.
She added that, from volunteering, she’s met people with remarkable stories on how the students have personally affected their lives, such as when one family, during Mr. Clearview, came up to the podium and thanked the students personally.
“It’s not like the students who do engage in this community service don’t get to see the impact they have,” said Strauss. “When we go to Camden through the SURE Club, we do a lot of community service there. We partake in the Urban Promise program where we spend a day and see how the kids in Camden get to live and learn.”
The school, Strauss said, received an award for Students in Action, an active data sheet recording what they’ve done, set up by the Jefferson Awards for Public Service.
“It felt like all of the hard work the school does pay off and it just goes to show that your efforts will be recognized when you put in the hard work and the time, there is some form reward out there for you,” said Strauss.
In her personal life, she wants to attend New York University to major in dramatic writing, which is scriptwriting for film, television and plays. Strauss said she looks forward to it because it combines her passion for social justice and politics together.
“Through my writing for putting out to mass media, I want to give representation to marginalized groups so that — just because when I was younger I didn’t see bi-racial girls reflected accurately in mass media,” said Strauss. “So I want to give back to the community to women like myself and black women, transgendered people who aren’t reflected currently.”
One year ago, Strauss organized a peaceful sit-in at the high school following two social media posts in February of 2017 targeting African-Americans and those who identify themselves in the LGBTQ community, according to a previous Mantua Sun story. Strauss and several other students met with administration before and after the protest.
Her action at the school garnered attention from an Ivy League university back in April due to her civil actions.
Clearview Regional student wins Princeton Prize in Race Relations
Recently, she asked students to attend the Oct. 18 board meeting to discuss their concerns over the contract negotiations with the board. But she wouldn’t call herself the coordinator of these types of events at Clearview.
“I certainly play a role in as much as I can because I want to see changes in the school and I want to be there to make the changes that I want to see,” said Strauss.
Now in her final year of high school, Strauss added she seeks to assist students who may feel apathetic toward volunteering and doing good for their community.
“I think that the biggest problem is that people make it out to be harder than it actually is to help out in their communities,” said Strauss. “You don’t have to get off your couch to donate nowadays, you can just do charities only. Community service is easier now than ever, so we try to push that notion.”
As far as the outside community, she said they do not get to see everything that happens behind closed doors, such as plans falling through, not having enough resources, needing more time to plan an event, among others. Most of the events, she said, aren’t just community cleanups, but involve students actively listening to the surrounding community and answering their needs as much as possible.
The district, she added, helps keep students on track with volunteering and making sure students reach out, wherever they can to help someone out.
“I think one of the best things about Clearview itself is that it tries to foster a lasting sense of volunteerism within their students,” said Strauss.
