FRED LEBLANC

While they were still learning their way around Mount Holyoke's campus, about 300 new MHC students also got to know the surrounding community--and each other--a little bit better last Saturday through Second* Saturday, a daylong orientation program involving them in recreational and community service projects. Rising before 8 am, they were met at at a number of points on campus by a fleet of vans, buses, and cars, which brought them to locations as near as South Hadley and as distant as the Berkshire County town of Stockbridge. Projects began around 9 am and concluded by 3 pm. The largest of the activities, a day of apple picking and baking, involved thirty-four students, while the smallest, working at South Hadley's Gaylord Library, included six new students.

This is the second year of the Second*Saturday program, which was launched as part of the College's efforts to provide a fun yet meaningful orientation for first-year students, foreign fellows, and Frances Perkins Scholars. This year, Second*Saturday also involved some fifty upperclass student leaders, as well as many alumnae and community volunteers, at thirty-three different locations. Sites ranged from the Berkshire Hills Music Academy, a new residential school that uses music studies to help students overcome learning challenges; to the sixty-acre Food Bank Farm, which supports food programs across western Massachusetts; to the Norwottuck Rail Trail, the zoo at Forest Park, MHC's Stony Brook (the stream), and the Stony Brook Children's Center.
"We want students to get an early taste of the rich resources of their new Pioneer Valley home," said Catharine Melhorn, Hammond-Douglass Professor of Music and faculty coordinator for Second* Saturday.

Students who found themselves layering cardboard and wood chips to mulch a Japanese garden next to Leverett's Buddhist peace pagoda certainly seemed to meet Second* Saturday's goal. "I feel like I'm helping in the world instead of being in my own little world of homework and cocurriculars," said Bharathi Sundaram '04, who served as project coleader with Asha Strazzero-Wild '04. Participant Jessie Dall '05, who grew up in a Christian environment, appreciated experiencing a different religion and culture. "It's neat that MHC encourages diversity and understanding of other cultures and beliefs through projects like this," she said.

Working next to a 100-foot monument to peace seemed particularly significant to the women, who are still wrestling with the violence of the recent terrorist attacks. "I felt a bit overwhelmed with schoolwork and wondered if I could give up a whole Saturday," said Sarah Shattuck '05. "But then I thought, it's a structure for peace; considering this week, how can I not to do it?” Shekela Wanyama '05 felt much the same. "It's a place of serenity," she said, "and it gives me a chance to breathe after the events this week."

Volunteers at Kelly Constant Playground at Holyoke's Community Field felt equally rewarded. Surrounded by the joyful shouts of children, they made quick work of repair and cleanup tasks at the massive wooden play structure of slides, swings, and bridges, which was built in 1989 and named in memory of Kelly Constant, daughter of Rich and Carol Constant, annual and special gifts officer at MHC. The service work felt natural to Kate Billipp '05, who said that commitment to community engagement was one of the things that most appealed to her about MHC. "It's not just one day of service at MHC, but outreach in small ways all year round," she said. Billipp and her coworkers drew thanks from former Holyoke mayor Danny Szostkiewicz, whose two young sons enjoy the playground every Saturday.

Second*Saturday participants also became partners with community members on the College's campus. At the Eliana Ortega House, MHC students helped twelve Girl Scouts from South Hadley complete three cooking activities toward the six required for a cooking badge. Also helping with the pizza shaping and cookie baking were alumna Meghan McInerney '93, and her mother, Tekla. "Everyone had such a good time," said Tekla, who has already agreed to be involved in next year's projects." Former Girl Scouts Jojo Davis '05 and Jen Tougas '05 both enjoyed reliving their own happy memories with the young cooks. "I am so excited to be in college," said Davis, "but now maybe I wish I were in fifth grade again!" With full mouths, giggles, and an intense game of "7-Up," the Girl Scouts themselves had little time to comment, but Kiana Lussier, daughter of associate dean of the College Rochelle Calhoun, paused long enough to say, "Eating was the best part!"

The fact that that Second* Saturday went off without a hitch was a small miracle. The tragedy in New York and Washington forced Melhorn to scramble to fill about seventy-five vacancies in the program that emerged at the last minute when students cancelled for a variety of reasons. Since a number of the community service organizations had told their regular volunteers not to come in because MHC students were expected, Melhorn encouraged upperclass students to fill in. A number of previously unregistered Frances Perkins Scholars signed up, a move that kept the various groups balanced and sufficiently staffed. Says Melhorn, "It was a tremendous push, but we did it! I personally am exhausted, but grateful that we could do this at a time we're all feeling so helpless."