The Stone Scholar Program
Since I have become a Stone Scholar at DePauw, the number one question that I am asked is, “What do the Stone Scholars even do?”. The Stone Scholar Program is a volunteer program here at DePauw. It focuses on service for the community. The Stone Scholars are a group of ten first-year students that are chosen based on their volunteer work in high school. The group works together to run Supermarket Sweep in the spring. The Stone Scholars all have separate volunteer work that they do on the side too. This volunteer work can range from visiting Asbury Towers, teaching elementary students basic math and science skills, helping out at the Humane Society and working with the Best Buddies group. The students volunteer every week and meet every month with each other to learn new ideas about service. The volunteer work and the meetings really help the students feel a sense of community and learn why service is so important.
The group also went on fall break trip to Cumberland Island together. I was lucky enough to be a part of this trip! Cumberland Island is off the coast of Georgia and is home to wild horses, armadillos and grapefruit trees. The trip to the island took fifteen hours on the road and a ferry ride. Our group camped at the island during break while doing service for the National Park. Our job during the day was to clean up the old Carnegie Mansion and to maintain the trails. After our workday, we would have group bonding sessions in order to get to know one another better. We were also allowed to go swimming in the ocean, go on hikes and ride bikes through the island. We could also go site seeing; the island had wild horses and grapefruit trees. The trip lasted from Friday before fall break until the following Thursday. The trip was truly an amazing experience due to the beauty of the island and the wonderful people who came on the trip. It was a once in a lifetime trip that involved service and bonding! It also allowed students to take on a leadership role. Students could oversee dinner, wash dishes and helping clean up camp. The Stone Scholars could also take a leadership role in the service by setting examples and coming up with innovated ideas to get the job done.
The Stone Scholar program provides a community of people to support you during your freshman year at DePauw while allowing students to continue doing the service that they did in high school. The group trip helped develop lasting friendships and create trust between the members.