Freshmen Students Prepare for College by Giving Back

It’s a bitter sweet day for many, its the final day of summer which means school is starting tomorrow for many students around the Black Hills. That includes the South Dakota School of Mines, and instead of spending the final day of summer hanging out, they did something unique.
President of SD School of Mines, Heather Wilson says “This is our freshmen day of service. Our incoming freshmen class will be doing community service projects throughout the black hills today."
As nearly 500 incoming freshman students worked around the clock Sunday afternoon giving back to the community. “They enjoy having us as a college town but I know it can be tiring, so we just want to give back and show what they have given to us” said Amanda Eubanks.
“Our school is supported in part by tax payer dollars and so we think that our students have an obligation to give back to the community for helping to support us” said Wilson.
Cleaning up and volunteering at multiple locations around Rapid City, “We have a bus load of students out at the boys scout camps, we’re sending students to the Outdoor Campus West, Cornerstone Rescue Mission and the Journey Museum and cleaning up downtown. We’re also sending students to help clean up after the state fair” said Wilson.
All together students put in a total of 800 hours of community service. Eubanks says “It’s a required thing but I think it’s really cool that the entire freshmen class is out serving Rapid City. Some of us are here on campus doing stuff and some of us are going out to Rapid but I have never seen that before and I think it’s a good way to get all of the freshmen involved immediately."
Now its back to school for thousands in the Black Hills.