Day of Service brings high school students to Ravenna service

An army of yellow-shirted high school students descended on businesses and social service agencies in Ravenna on Friday, asking how they could help.

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the School Service Day has returned to Ravenna. Students from across the high school were stationed at various locations in the community, handing out flyers, picking up trash and washing fire trucks.

Guidance counselor Jennifer Browning said students were sent “anywhere and everywhere” that a company or agency had something for students.

Browning was supervising a group of students who had helped the Ravenna Region Chamber of Commerce send out a mailing and distribute flyers downtown. Another group of students were busy picking up debris left in downtown flowerbeds, and another group stopped at the Ravenna Fire Department, where firefighters had them wash down a fire truck .

The students said Mayor Frank Seman greeted them and invited them inside City Hall, where they were able to see the offices and council chambers.

Browning said the community was welcoming to students, offering them free food and drink. When a group passed by Guido’s, she said, the restaurant owner greeted them, encouraging them to apply for job openings at the restaurant.

“It’s good for the kids,” Browning said. “It helps us see how much everyone appreciates them and how the community does good things for you when you get down to doing good.”

Journalist Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or [email protected]