By Camden Costa, Class of 2025
This article is a part of a series of student stories of growth curated for the 2025 One Event. If you enjoy this story, please donate and tell us which student’s story inspired you to give.
Working with Future Public School throughout my time in Project Good has brought me countless opportunities to connect with other students and inspire them to put their mind towards something they want. Project Good is One Stone’s experiential service program, and this year, I am helping lead a skateboarding club after school.
One student, Kyme, told me about how much he enjoys skateboarding and how grateful he is for the opportunity. Working with these young students has been fun and nostalgic. I love seeing the younger population involved in sports because of the significant impact sports have had on my life. Working with Kyme has been engaging and character developing. Working with Future has helped me show vulnerability and create more engaging lessons for students.
Engaging elementary students in learning has been much more challenging than I expected. I've discovered that volunteering in the community always lifts my spirits. I've learned that making the experience fun and closely related to my passions can have an impact for the better. While working with Future Public School, I've had the opportunity to demonstrate and grow my passion and leadership skills. Running an after-school skate program has allowed me to display my ability to communicate effectively and work efficiently when I am passionate about the subject.
This experience has also taught me the importance of passion and how beneficial it can be, even when faced with tasks that I don't find interest in. This experience has shown me the challenges of maintaining dedication when passion is lacking, but it has also shown me the value of perseverance and finding motivation in any situation. From my first lesson to last Thursday, my passion has remained steady, but my skill set has improved significantly. I have consistently applied skills from this experience to various situations.
From this experience I have gained patience and adaptability. I am constantly required to adapt and create more engaging activities. I learned from my mistakes and benefited from reflecting on what went well and what I can change. This program gives students the opportunity to bond and experience a sense of accomplishment by staying active and spending time outdoors, which I believe is important.
Working with senior citizens was helpful after my previous Project Good experience with younger kids because it diversified my communication skills and challenged me in new ways.
Working with people living in assisted living homes and the kids at Future Public School has allowed me to make an impact on diverse groups in our community. I am grateful for the opportunity Project Good has provided, allowing me to contribute to our community.
