By Erika Anderson

Staff Writer

ATLANTA-At Our Lady of the Assumption School, eighth-graders wear a lapel pin that reminds them of the leadership role they hold in the school.

The students are pinned during a ceremony at the beginning of the year. As they are commissioned, they are told that the "school community of Our Lady of Assumption recognizes and calls forth the leadership ability of our eighth-grade students. We ask them this day if they are willing to accept that responsibility in their words and actions."

The students are then asked, "By your words and actions will you work to bring the school together as a Christian community?"

Many of OLA's eighth-grade students have answered with a resounding 'yes,' easing into their positions as role models by serving others in the school and in the greater Atlanta community.

OLA faculty members try to instill a spirit of service in all their students. Joan Tiernan, principal of OLA, believes that service is "the most important component of Catholic schools” and that service forms leaders.

"If children give service, they become leaders," she said. "If they learn to think of others before themselves, then I think that engenders leadership."

Peggy Dobson, middle school religion teacher at OLA, also said that leadership should always include service.

"We try to tell students that they are leaders of the school and that they have a responsibility by what they do, and not just what they say, to show that they are leaders."

Middle school students participate in service throughout the year in a variety of ways.

They serve as altar servers for all the OLA funerals, as members of the peace patrol and safety patrol, which serve other students, and as members of the student council, which performs dozens of service projects during the year. These include collecting shoes for the women's shelter and selling flowers for Valentine's Day with proceeds going to the St. Vincent de Paul Society at OLA.

Tiernan said that in her eight years at OLA she has seen service grow. As principal, Tiernan often writes recommendations for students to attend Marist School or St. Pius X High School. She first asks students to fill out a form writing down their accomplishments in academics, sports and extracurricular activities and community service.

"It used to be kids went on and on about academics or tennis or swimming," she said. "This year more than ever I'm seeing them write more about service, writing things like 'I went with my mom to the shelter.'"

Though Tiernan said that it is sometimes hard to find service projects for students who are not yet old enough to drive, she said students have found ways to serve despite their age limitations.

Many of the eighth-graders take their recess time to read to pre-kindergarten students. Other students serve once a month at senior citizens' Masses at the church, making treat bags and performing a song or reading an essay for the seniors.

Other students serve at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store by folding donated clothes. Some visit shelters with their families. Dobson said students often ask to do more.

"A lot of kids give up their lunch hour for service," she said. "We have so much that even giving in a small way is giving back."

Many of the students have learned that they are not too young to help.

Meredith Nethery is one of those students. A seventh-grade student at OLA, Nethery was inspired to help the people whose lives were devastated by a major earthquake that rocked Turkey in mid-August.

"I was listening to it on the news and it just sounded really bad," she said. "I wanted to help."

So Nethery talked to Tiernan about raising money. She made fliers and boxes for each classroom, soliciting "Pennies for Progress." Students and parents generously donated to the cause and the company where Nethery's mother works matched the funds. Over $1,000 went directly to Catholic Relief Services to aid the people in Turkey.

"It makes me feel good that people understand what I'm doing and that I'm helping," she said. "I really hope the younger students will catch on and try to help other people too," she said.

Many of the students in the middle school grades hope that they are seen as role models to the younger children, especially when it comes to service.

Eighth-grader Patty Conboy often makes cookies for Habitat for Humanity volunteers and visits shelters with her parents.

"When I see other people who are less fortunate, I feel really blessed that I have been given a home and a family," she said. "I realize how strong God is in my life and how he's helped me through things."

"I really want to be a good role model," she said. "I hope that the younger kids will realize how important it is to help other people."

Eighth-grade student Emily Niles also enjoys volunteering in shelters. She often goes with her family to take food to those who are less fortunate materially.

"I always wanted to give to people," she said. "I love going to people's houses and bringing them food."

Niles also takes her position as a role model very seriously.

"I had role models when I was little and that was very important to me and I hoped that one day I would be a role model," she said. "It makes me really proud."

Ryan Propis, an eighth-grader and president of the OLA student council, spends much of his free time helping his mother raise money for Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.

"It makes you really appreciate what you have when you see how little other people have," he said. "It's a constant reminder to help others do what Jesus would do and what God would want us to do."

Though the students are young, many have very grown-up ideas of service.

Emma Arkley, an eighth-grader at OLA, goes once a week to visit a bed-ridden elderly man in her neighborhood.

"I don't like to see people lonely and without things," she said. "Helping them not only makes me feel good, but it helps me to appreciate all I have."

Eighth-grader Eric Forrest volunteers during the summer at Camp Will-a-Way, a camp that serves the handicapped. Through service, he has learned the meaning of selflessness.

"Every time I do something for myself, I remember that there are other people who don't have as much as I do and it makes me want to do something about it," he said.

Dobson hopes that all her students see the value of serving others.

"It has to become a way of life," she said. "You have to serve others in order to be a contributing Christian in society."

Tiernan believes that elementary school lays the foundation for students as they continue on life's journey.

"I hope they learn that it's better to give to others. That's what we're here for," she said. "Hopefully they'll learn it here and they'll carry that with them into high school and the rest of their lives."