DeGraff teen completes statewide toy drive effort
A project tackled by a DeGraff area high school senior this school year has put smiles on the faces of many pediatric hospital patients, who received special toys as a result of a collection drive conducted around the state.
Ohio Virtual Academy student Monica Slaven spearheaded the recent toy drive to benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. Through the initiative conducted by the OHVA’s National Honor Society Chapter, 772 sets of toys were collected and delivered to the hospital, one of the largest donations the facility has ever received, officials told the local resident.
“When I was elected president of my National Honor Society Chapter, I chose to make this our number one service project,” Monica said this week in an e-mail. “It’s something that I am passionate about, and have wanted to do for many years. This being my senior year in high school, I decided that I was going to find a way to make it happen, no matter what it took.
“I decided to set a goal to accomplish this service project in the first school semester, to be completed just before Christmas, which proved to be a huge task.
“I had to jump through a numerous hurdles to set all of the details and get this project under way, but with the help of my National Honor Society Chapter, and teaming up with my local 4-H group (Helping Hands 4-H), we were able to do it.”
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Representatives from the Helping Hands 4-H Club and the Ohio Virtual Academy’s National Honor Society gathered in December at Camp Christian in Marysville to sort nearly 800 toys donated for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in an effort organized by DeGraff area resident Monica Slaven, pictured fourth from the right. (PHOTO | SLAVEN FAMILY) |
Monica said since her online school is made up of about 4,000 students who live throughout the state, she set up drop-off points in different locations across Ohio. Then plans were made for teachers to pick up the donations at the end of the collection drive.
She collaborated with her 4-H club, Helping Hands 4-H, to collect toys locally, and the Logan County Ohio State University Extension office served as a collection point in December.
The teen also visited various stores in Bellefontaine to ask for donations, where she found that “many businesses were extremely generous and wanted to help,” she said.
“One person who stands out in my mind is a manager at a local business. I had walked in, introduced myself, and told him about our project and mission, and asked if the business would consider a donation.
“He sadly told me that this particular business isn’t allowed to give donations. But he then said, ‘I tell you what,’ he pulled out his wallet and smiled. ‘Here is $20. I want you to go and pick anything you’d like for the kids and come back and I will pay for it.’”
Once toys were collected around the state, NHS members and 4-H members gathered at Camp Christian in Marysville to sort the items. Part of the project also included making cards and writing letters for overseas service members that were mailed to A Million Thanks.org.
Then Monica and some of her family and her NHS adviser traveled to the Columbus hospital to make the special delivery.
“They were extremely happy and thankful for the donations,” she said of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital staff. “I really liked being able help and reach so many kids. That was the best part for me.”
In addition to her NHS position, the local student also holds several other offices at her school — serving as president of the core student council, Agriculture Society, International Travel Club, as well as vice president of the Choir Club.
She said each of these groups meet in an online setting on a weekly basis. The pupils have the ability to communicate live through a program that allows a virtual classroom setting, complete with whiteboard, text and audio communications, and webcam, just as they do for their regular classes each day.
The flexibility in her schedule afforded by online schooling has allowed her to be involved in her family’s farm operation and also has enabled her to be pursue College Credit Plus Program at Rhodes State College. She will nearly have her associate of science degree completed by the time she graduates high school in the spring.
“I love the Ohio Virtual Academy, and am proud to be a part of it,” she said of the program she started in fifth-grade. “I really like that we are able to be involved in so many great things, and on a completely personal level, even though we are an online school.
“One really neat thing is that by being a statewide school, all of my friends are located throughout the entire state of Ohio. I have even made friends from other countries through our school programs. Over the years, I have also become extremely close to a lot of my teachers and consider many of them lifelong friends.”
Monica will graduate from the OHVA in May at the top of her class of 928 seniors, and will be delivering her school’s graduation speech in Columbus. In the fall, she plans to attend either The Ohio State University or The University of Findlay to pursue a career in the veterinary field or in business to apply it to the agriculture world, she said.