News

John Adams Volunteer Association

Elijah Henry, Reporter

November 5, 2023

Photo courtesy of Caryn Schierbeek

As the year goes by, plenty of opportunities reveal themselves. John Adams Volunteer Association, or JAVA for short, is a non-profit organization dedicated to giving back to the local South Bend community. I interviewed Caryn Schierbeek, the sponsor of JAVA. With every event, new opportunities arise.

Ever since JAVA was founded in 2009 by a previous sponsor, JAVA has been growing steadily. Currently, there are around 190 members, and any student of John Adams can join. Events provided by JAVA happen regularly, with one to two occurring each month, and all you have to do is send Schierbeek an email requesting to join.

JAVA’s mission is to give back to the community. In 2022, JAVA participated in “Adopt a Box” to raise money for the pet refuge here in South Bend and many other events. This year, they hope to raise money for people experiencing homelessness, participate in the Salvation Army Red Kettle Kickoff, host information nights and other events in the future.

Not only does JAVA host events outside of school, but they also host bake sales, cafes and many more within John Adams High School. Most recently was the Cider Cafe, where they sold apple cider and hot chocolate to raise money to upgrade the courtyard here at John Adams.

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When speaking to current sponsor Schierbeek about her experience with JAVA, she said, “JAVA is really awesome because many different people can participate. Other student organizations are exclusive, so based on GPA or other factors, but JAVA brings the student body together; anyone can join.”

JAVA has been a way for many students to have fun while building relationships and a promising individual record. While participating in JAVA, you can write down volunteering hours that are recognized in the National Honors Society, college applications, and job applications.

“I think it’s good to be visible in the community of South Bend, be the face of South Bend schools, and be out doing positive things for the community.” JAVA is always excited to participate in more events and recruit more members. Consider joining JAVA and give back to the local community.

For more information, visit the guidance office and keep an eye out for the next event on Nov. 18. JAVA will be serving at the fall sports banquet at John Adams.

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About the Contributor

Elijah Henry, Reporter

Elijah Henry, better known as Eli, is a senior at John Adams High School, and is excited to return to writing for The Tower for a second year. He hopes to provide interesting stories and expand the horizons of The Tower. Outside of the newspaper, he’s part of other clubs, such as the John Adams Volunteer Association (JAVA), and is hoping to participate in Quiz Bowl this year. He also recently became a member of the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). After high school, Eli aspires to attend Purdue University and study cybersecurity to achieve his goal of acquiring his dream job which is a cybersecurity specialist. Eli is a persistent soccer player. He hopes to continue playing for both recreational and competitive teams in the future. He has played for 10 years and counting, both for the Michiana Soccer Association (MSA) and Jr. Irish. Eli has two cats, has a job at Notre Dame, and is hopefully going to get his license soon. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, creating art, and coding websites and bots. His biggest accomplishment with coding is helping develop an AI for an unreleased project. Eli hopes to provide great content and ideas to expand the horizons of The Tower and offer a good experience for the readers. For The Tower, he’ll do it all: write opinions, interviews, current events, and more. Eli also plans working with other staff members of The Tower to create a more interesting and fun environment for the reader, such as possibly taking part in media, and overall just ending his high school career with some fun.