Not just loafing around
Eighth grade LOAFS Maddie McLellan, left, and Jackie McLoon, hold up snowflakes and balls decorated for the upcoming holiday dance. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
The LOAFS group with their Humane Society donations. From left, front row: Emma Hodgdon, Lily Sherburne, Dextany Colar, Tori Morin, Olivia Paolillo and Reagan Cola; second row: Mikayla Main, Carmela Edwards, Rick Hilscher, Stephen Reny, Isabelle Curtis, Maddie Gaudette, Sydney Mercier and Maddie McLellan; third row: Graham Bryer, Abby Teele, Cameron Crocker, Evy Case, Jay Hasch, Sydney Meader, Riley Sullivan, Annie Bryer and Mrs. Dorr; fourth row: Gabby Boord, Hunter Arsenault, Jo Shaw, Jackie McLoon, Jacob Brewer, Faith Blethen, Helen Hamblett, Page Brown, Summer Chamberlin and Emma Pearce. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Eighth grade LOAFS Maddie McLellan, left, and Jackie McLoon, hold up snowflakes and balls decorated for the upcoming holiday dance. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
The LOAFS group with their Humane Society donations. From left, front row: Emma Hodgdon, Lily Sherburne, Dextany Colar, Tori Morin, Olivia Paolillo and Reagan Cola; second row: Mikayla Main, Carmela Edwards, Rick Hilscher, Stephen Reny, Isabelle Curtis, Maddie Gaudette, Sydney Mercier and Maddie McLellan; third row: Graham Bryer, Abby Teele, Cameron Crocker, Evy Case, Jay Hasch, Sydney Meader, Riley Sullivan, Annie Bryer and Mrs. Dorr; fourth row: Gabby Boord, Hunter Arsenault, Jo Shaw, Jackie McLoon, Jacob Brewer, Faith Blethen, Helen Hamblett, Page Brown, Summer Chamberlin and Emma Pearce. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Every Tuesday at lunch, a group of 28 students at Boothbay Region Elementary School gets together for a weekly meeting. These students make up the LOAFS group, which stands for Leaders Organizing Activities for School.
The LOAFS are seventh and eighth graders who want to help make a difference in the community through helping others. Through fundraising efforts, the LOAFS have made donations to many worthy causes, and also organize fun events for the school such as the Winter Carnival, crazy hat day and school dances.
One event they recently completed was "Pink Day" where students dressed up in pink clothing in support of breast cancer awareness. They raised $250, which they gave to the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition. In response, the coalition presented the group with a plague recognizing their efforts.
On December 5, the students finished collecting for the Human Society and dropped off four large boxes of donations they collected.
"The students aim to do one fundraiser a month," said Judy Dorr, the faculty adviser for the LOAFS group. "The kids learn about how much work is involved in projects like this, and they create subcommittees to handle all the aspects."
One example is the upcoming Christmas Dance being held in the BRES gym. The group has several committees set up, including one to decorate, one to advertise that it's going on, one to deal with music and one to sell tickets.
For music, the LOAFS hire Mike Gudroe, who pro-rates his normal rates for the LOAFS.
"I joined because the students in the above grades told us it was a lot of fun, and because I wanted to help people," eighth grader Maddie McLellan said. She joined the LOAFS in seventh grade. "We've had some fun activities, like the neon dance we did last year with black lights."
Fellow eighth grader Jackie McLoon agreed.
"I also like doing more than just getting good grades in school," McLoon said. "I like having fun and doing more activities with my friends."
"These students are really dedicated," Dorr said. "They meet every week — sometimes more than once, if an activity is coming up. This program teaches about leadership skills and how to plan and carry out that plan. Those are skills that will help them through their entire lives."
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