Rotary Interact recently sent a committee of students to a “Pitch-er” This event at Central Michigan University, and they were rewarded with a huge grant!
“Pitch-er This” is a competition for Gratiot and Isabella County youth to present their ideas to improve their community to judges. The St. Louis committee consists of Bethany Bowerman, Kaya Munoz, Rebekah Ross, and Chairperson Elly Starry. This committee presented their idea for a safe space called the “Zen Den” within SLHS for students to utilize throughout the school day. This idea was approved by the judges, and in return, the committee was presented with a grant of $4,500 from the United Way to put toward the safe room. Additionally, the adult St. Louis/Alma Rotary Interact offered to match this amount, giving the committee a $9,000 budget.
This committee worked very hard to accomplish this goal. They first started by coming up with as many ideas as they could to fill a need within the community. “The process of coming up with an idea was a long train of ideas,” said Elly Starry. “After a couple meetings and months, I thought of the idea of a calming room.” Starry also added that the committee collectively agreed that SLHS students could use this room as a safe space to easily talk to individuals such as Child Protective Services or police officers. “We also needed a space in our school for students to decompress or release emotions rather than bottling them up or expressing them in the bathroom or stairwells,” added Starry.
Preparing for a presentation such as this one is no easy task. The committee spent lots of time together brainstorming and planning out everything they needed to make the “Zen Den” happen. “It took a lot of work to get this presentation down and to list out all of the things we needed in our room and put a price on it,” said Bowerman. “It really does show how much work goes into improving a community, but it is well worth it,” she added. In regards to their presentation, Bowerman stated, “It went really well at CMU, and it was an amazing experience. I would 100 percent do it again, especially knowing what the outcome will be in the community.”
The “Zen Den” could be finished and ready for SLHS students as early as the fall of 2024!
