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PUTNEY -- Landmark College has enhanced its summer program by adding community service this summer. In July, 147 high school students volunteered around Putney and it was so successful that it will happen again.
"After the hurricane, students helped out around Putney and really enjoyed it," Tricia Stanley said. Stanley is the daytime coordinator for student affairs. "This is the first summer we've done community service, but we've done the high school program for the last 10 years."
The high school program helps juniors and seniors in high school from around the country.
"It's a camp feel," Stanley said.
The students study, practice college level learning, and receive overall college preparation.
This is the first year that community service has also been on the summer agenda for Landmark College. They worked with Putney organizations such as Putney Fire and Rescue, Putney Conservation, Putney School Garden and Putney Mountain. The students cleaned up mountain trails and worked on Bear Hill.
"We really wanted to give back to the community," Stanley said. "Every day they had an activity for two hours a day during the three weeks."
The schedule for student volunteers rotated, but often students would be asking for more to do, she said.
"Some students wanted to work another day," Stanley said. "These kids came from cities all over the country and enjoyed seeing the countryside."
Now Landmark
"It was a lot of fun working with the students," Stanley said. "This is the first place they feel really accepted. It's empowering for them."
Carleen Busick will be a senior at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the fall. She is a summer intern with the Reformer and lives in Wardsboro.
