By Anthony Andrade ’27
In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, members of the Teach Wallingford Club at Choate decided to spread love throughout town. On February 9, Choate students volunteered at Moses Y. Beach Elementary School’s Valentine’s Day dance.
Teach Wallingford President Ava Sklar ’24 spoke to the coordinator of the school dance, reached out to club members, and recruited volunteers to assist with the festivities. She instructed the volunteers to help decorate, manage activities, and make the event lively.
The volunteers’ specific tasks included taking pictures, holding doors, creating heart decorations, and dancing with the children. Their efforts elicited positive reactions from volunteers, parents, and children alike.
Volunteer Ray Wang ’27, who was in charge of upkeeping the limbo station and assisting with additional tasks, said, “I’m happy for just helping out. I’m happy that I could contribute to the overall experience in some way.”
Another volunteer, Nina Schaffer ’26, applauded the final outcome. “It was really well put-together and run. The event ended up looking super nice, and I could tell the kids had a blast.”
Volunteer Joy Gao ’24 said the event made her appreciate event organizers and volunteers more. “The whole time, I was just thinking about moments in my life where I was having fun and not taking a moment to recognize all the hard work and time and effort that other people put in behind the scenes.”
The Choate students who participated were also inspired to continue service work after the event. Wang said, “I took away the fact that I like to help out. And I should probably do this more.”
