In GEAR UP program, Everett students both learn and serve

EVERETT — Christie Luttrell wants to be a psychologist, Patrice Burnett hopes to be a veterinarian and Tia-Monette Johnson aims to go into fashion design. Henrik Kiaer plans to join the Navy and Chase Noble wants to go to the DigiPen Institute of Technology. Austin Gergich has his sights set on the music program at the University of Oregon.

But this summer, the six 10th-graders from Everett High School served lunches, organized storage rooms and refinished wooden furniture at the Carl Gipson Senior Center.

They are one of four groups participating in the high school’s GEAR UP program, a grant-funded community service and college preparation course that helps students learn while serving their communities.

“I realized the students really wanted to volunteer but didn’t know how to get started,” teacher Theresa Kemp said. “What I was hoping was we could make a connection and they could continue volunteering.”

So far, it’s working. Most of the students are volunteering extra hours, and some plan to continue volunteering during the school year.

The GEAR UP volunteer hours are not part of high school graduation requirements, Kemp said. The course is about pushing students to go above and beyond.

There are 24 students in the class. During the summer, groups of five or six spend one day a week volunteering around Everett. Along with the senior center, students volunteer at the Imagine Children’s Museum, YMCA and Full Life Care.

Most of the GEAR UP students are from low-income families and would be the first in their family to attend college. Kemp said a sense of community and appreciation for service are important pieces of their education.

“I think it’s the highlight of all of their weeks,” she said.

Kiaer said he wanted to volunteer at the senior center in the summer, and the class gave him the perfect opportunity. He’s done volunteer work in the past and enjoys it.

Johnson said helping out at the senior center is fun. Though she’d like to be able to talk with more of the people at the center, she said all of them have been nice.

“I like serving them lunch because then I get to see all their faces,” she said.

The lunch service is a pleasant surprise for some of the seniors, who are used to waiting in line for their meals. Wednesday is the only day of the week they get waited on, with the six students bringing taco salads, milk and fruit bowls to more than 50 people.

After cleaning up some of the dishes after a recent lunch, the teens split into two smaller groups. Half of them headed outside to refinish wooden furniture for the senior center, and half went downstairs to start organizing a storage room jammed with books, more furniture, and medical supplies.

Shirley Gilday, who has been volunteering at the senior center for several years, said she appreciated the extra hands this summer.

“It’s been thrilling having the kids here,” she said. “They do such a fabulous job, and they like it, too.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.