Archbishop Mitty High School - Excalibur Yearbook (San Jose, CA)

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ommunlty Front Raul Vera Standing Celeste Birkeland, Chris Morris, Janene Argendeli, Tom Dill Oscar Vera Lisa Teresa Paul DiGiore, Phil Maher, Frances Ambrose, f , o most, skiing, biking, and back-packing are just recreational activities. For the members of Shared Adventures, they offer a chance to work and learn with disabled youth. Shared Adventures, co-founded by Gary Cramton, is a California-based outdoor program which matches disabled youth with high school students from Mitty, Jeffer- son, and Athenian high schools. The part- ners participate in recreational activities in- cluding cross-country skiing, tandem bik- ing, kayak tour-adventure, ropes course ex- penences, and backpacking.

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SF: Exec. Brd.: Back Row: Gina Bonanno, Paula Calderon, assandra Floyd, Lori Weichenthal, Kim Kistler. Second Row: ean DeMonner, Michelle Do le, Vir 'nia James. Front Row: ark Scully, Niyo Kachalia, lvllonica Scully lbelowl. 'ved at Camp Corralitos as a part of eight ifferent school groups, but they left the ountain as a part of one large ohana: amily. It is this feeling of ohana that the elve LIFE members have brought to Mit- this past year. - Monica Scully - o The C in CSF not only stands for Califor- ia, it stands for community. To encourage students to become more nvolved in the community, CSF required a inimum of ten hours of community ser- 'ce per semester. Each member could hoose the service most interesting to them. ome tutored, others were TAs. President heresa Banchero and Vice-President Lori l .1 Weichenthal volunteered a weekend at Camp Costanoan, a camp for the hand- icapped sponsored by the Crippled Chil- dren's Society of Santa Clara. Senior Lupita Velez was a volunteer at the Berryessa Branch Library once a week. It was really quiet, my sister and I were looking for lost books . . . and one of the bookends fell and all the books fell off the shelf. Everything got out of order, Velez recalled an embarrassing moment. Senior Mark Scully supervised volunteer activities organized through freshmen reli- gion classes. Monica Scully, also a senior, was a group leader for a freshmen retreat. Other services included candy striping, bake sales, stuffing envelopes, and school- Seniors: Back Row: Frances Ambrose, Peter Phillip, Edrice Angry, Noel Chantat, Lee Stone lleftl. Front Row: Elizabeth Nichols, Margaret Piumarta, Jim Cieciorka, Lupita Velez. lleftl. Sophomores: Back Row: Jenny Downs, Suzan Kang, Danna Fenton, Ker-ei Shyh, f Laura Schneider, Deirdre Kelly, Cathy Norbutas, Amy Choice, Patrice Doyle, Mile Guinane, Dave Gaskel, Jeff Bouley, Anne Viano Second Row: Jeannie Wocasek, Meg F Martin, Mai N uyen, Li Miao, Sue Austin, Franco Finstad, Mike Dauber, Michelle Buckner Front Row: Christine Velez, Desi Arechiga, Tina Johnson, Julie Fetsco, Randa De . Leon fleftl. ..wu fl Row: Patricia Curran, Lisa related services. The requirement brought a number of changes. Previously, over one hundred members claimed membership in CSF. This past year membership dropped approx- imately half. There is a direction this year. Before there had never been any goals set, re- plied Monica Scully. Students knew they must fulfill the requirement or lose their standing in the club. By changing its goals, CSF made its members more community aware. These students did more than just homework. - Theresa Banchero - Dutrieulle, Marilyn Reiss ffar leftl. Juniors: Back Row Phil Hotz, Mike O'Connor, Pat Lee Tania Tilley, Kitty O'DohertiQ Candy - Plevyak, irsten Kaercher, Jessica Hipolito. Second Row: Mark Leary, Tina Ditto, Janene Argendeli, Dawn Flores, Jessica Lopez, Celeste Bir eland. Front l95 v

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youths led them along trails while telling them about the surrounding environment. Senior Misty Hunter found such activities educational because she learned her own limitations and discovered the amazing abilities of handicapped people. Hunter felt the most outstanding part of the program, however, was being involved in difficult situations where you have to depend on help from others. At the ropes course at La Honda, she was faced with obstacles she had never faced before. When you have to confront a new situa- R afi T 5 ,Q , S s 3.23 .N 5 tion, it is much easier to do it when you have support from others, commented Hunter. Still another experience in Shared Adventures was the cross-country ski trip. High school students provided assistance to the disabled in leaming how to ski and then acted as guides for the cross-country tracks. The ski trips are a lot of fun and a great learning experience. Often the guides are leaming at the same time that the handi- capped students are, stated junior Mary Neves. She felt the ski trip especially pro- vided a feeling of community and closeness Gary Cramton fabove leftl instructs Lisa Teresi on the importance of the pole plant as Raul Vera looks on. Dan Vendrell ilefti skis to meet his leader. Chris Morris fbelowi explains to Tom Dill how the bindings oper- ate and how to put his skis on. which she found exciting, Shared Adventures programs tend to create an atmosphere where cooperation is possible and sharing is possible, noted Cramton. In doing so, the project provides benefits both to disabled youth and high school volunteers, for it gives them the chance to explore our abilities and the capabilities of others, summarized Hunter. - Lori Weichenthal - 197