When adults think about high school students, the first words they use to describe them typically has nothing to do with volunteering or community service. Annie Kaiser, this year’s ASB adviser, is working to change this misconception and, with the help of ASB, has been implementing more community service projects.

“A community is made strong by the generosity and connection of its members,” Kaiser said, “When students give of their time and talents to others in their community, there is an intertwining of life experiences that creates an empathetic and supportive network.”

This year students have organized and donated to clothing drives, charity fundraisers, and even partnered with the Portland Rescue Mission to collect blankets. ASB has also newly implemented a hour of community service for students this spring. Students drove to multiple sites in the West Linn area to clean up parks and do yard work.

“West Linn is my home, I have lived here for most of my life. It’s a great place and it’s important to give  back because I would like West Linn to stay a nice community for kids to grow up in,” Hailey Bouchard, junior, said.

Through her platform as ASB adviser, Kaiser has called attention to charities in need, and has challenged students to focus on serving others for the right reasons.

“This year Leadership and ASB has focused on doing community service for the right reasons,” Rachel Porche, junior, said. “This means doing community service not to morally elevate ourselves, but to focus on the people in need.”

Kaiser has a simple call of action for teens in the West Linn community, one that she has taught to all of her leadership and ASB students.

“The most profound sort of service is that of the student who quietly and consistently takes care of whatever needs to be done—without being asked, and without expecting acknowledgment or anything else in return,” Kaiser said. “This sort of service often demands a degree of humility and sacrifice, and it’s that demonstration of the best of humanity that impresses me most.”