August 27, 2015
MARSHALL, Texas (8/26/15) - New incoming students of East Texas Baptist University fanned out to 12 different locations on Saturday morning in hopes of making a difference in the community they now call home. The new Marshall residents participated in community service projects, which were apart of Welcome Week activities, prior to the start of the fall semester on Monday.
ETBU freshmen, led by upperclassmen leaders, went to the locations to serve in any way they could. According to ETBU Great Commission Director Dr. Lisa Seeley, "We try to find locations where we can have a group of 10 to 20 to serve in places that will make a difference."
The majority of the ETBU teams could be found at the elementary schools of the Marshall Independent School District. Students serving at Moore Elementary shoveled rocks off the sidewalk by the playground and wiped down walls inside. While at Travis Elementary, the majority of the time was spent sorting and organizing books.
"I love serving and believe it is a great thing to do," said incoming Labelle freshman Carrie Sparks, as she sorted books in a hallway at Travis Elementary. "I think it is a good to get out in the community as college students to show other people that we do care and want to make the community better."
Sitting next to Sparks on the floor was fellow freshman Aaryn Honeywood of Paris. "When I found out what we were going to do I was excited to be helping teachers get ready for the start of school."
ETBU graduate and Moore Elementary second grade teacher Tiffany Stevenson said as she watched the students work at her school, "It is so neat to see this because when I was at ETBU as a freshman, I did the same thing but over at Lee Elementary."
Another group serving also came across another ETBU alumna. Crystal Pritchard is a head start teacher at Washington Early Childhood Center. At WEC, the student team was helping her prepare her room for the first day of class.
"They are making popsicle sticks with jewels on them, car tag numbers, placing crayons in individual school boxes, and tags for the students bags," said Pritchard, who has been teaching for 15 years. "What an awesome experience for me to see the students come and volunteer their time. This is a tremendous help."
Not only were ETBU students on the MISD elementary campuses, they also did service projects at First Baptist Church of Marshall, My Friend's House, Ward Plaza Apartments, Boys and Girls Club of Hallsville, and Day Spring Ranch.
According to Dr. Seeley, there is a reason why ETBU schedules a service project time during Welcome Week. "I believe that the freshmen need to start off on the right foot and start serving right away," shared Dr. Seeley. "I hope by the time they graduate serving others will be an integral part of their life and it will become a habit. As they graduate and go off to their new jobs somewhere, buy a house in a new community, and then the next step, to find a place to serve."
Junior Cheyenne Summers of Hallsville served as a student leader during Welcome Week. He also served last year as a sophomore taking a group to Mission Marshall to organize the food pantry and clean the lobby. By participating as a freshman, he believes the time helped him understand one of the many faith related purposes of attending a Christian university like ETBU.
"In going out and serving others in the community, I am learning how to be a servant leader and how to show the Gospel wherever I am."
"As Christians, we are supposed to put feet to our faith and be out there serving those who are less fortunate than us," Dr. Seeley concluded.
Nearly 220 ETBU students participated in serving the community as part of Welcome Week. Another day of community service is in the planning stages for ETBU students, faculty and staff to be held later.