SILVER CREEK – The first-ever Senior Service Day was held on June 10 in the Silver Creek Central School District and featured a selfless display of volunteerism on the part of dozens of students.

Twelfth-graders in the Class of 2016 volunteered a portion of their day to offer help at a variety of local organizations and businesses in the Silver Creek area and the surrounding communities.

Some seniors remained in the district to help with beautification efforts on the school grounds and rolled up their sleeves for gardening and weeding. Others helped with hosting and assisting with the elementary school’s annual “Spring Thing” event in the gymnasium or helped teachers with end-of-year tasks in their classrooms.

The community-minded upperclassmen poised for graduation assisted in a variety of ways at various sites in the area including: Silver Creek Food Pantry, Ruth Remsen Used Clothing Center of the First United Presbyterian Church in Silver Creek, Seneca Nation of Indians (Landscaping and making centerpieces for the SNI graduation banquet), The Lakeshore Humane Society in Dunkirk, The Willow Mission, an outreach ministry of the Dunkirk First United Methodist Church.

High school Principal Michael V. Lauria was encouraged by the students’ dedication and commitment to helping.

“I am very proud of this year’s graduating class,” he said. “These seniors are a family and have demonstrated their commitment to academics and to this community. Our hope is that this last class bonding experience will remind students of what it means to be active citizens, and inspire them to stay involved in the local community beyond graduation.”

After their service efforts, the students returned excited about their experiences and celebrated in the afternoon with a class picnic.