Interact Clubs

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High-school service club on Staten Island has big plans

by Diane Lore / Chalk Talk Thursday October 09, 2008, 10:47 AM

Staten Island Rotary Club photo Board members of the Susan Wagner High School Rotary Interact Club show off their official banner at a Rotary Club of Staten Island meeting. From left to right are students Teresa Ciaramella;, Samantha Scott, secretary; Daniel Victorio, president, and Pamela Steinbruck, holding the banner.

STATEN ISLAND, NY - SEA VIEW -- Aiding children in a Third World village, refugees from war-torn Sudan, and closer to home, raising funds for autistic children and their families on Staten Island, are the ambitious aims of student members of the newly-chartered Susan Wagner High School Rotary Interact Club. The Susan Wagner club, which received its charter in June and is kicking off its first academic year, is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Staten Island. The Interact Club is the high school version of Rotary International.Students involved in the club promote the Rotary ideals of "service above self" by sponsoring service projects in the community, as well as raising awareness of national and international issues. Susan Wagner and New Dorp are the only Staten Island high schools with Interact Clubs. The club, which has about 45 members so far, is led by Susan Wagner Scholars student and senior, Daniel Victorio, as its president. Architect Ronald Victorio (his dad), a past president of Rotary and a member of the Rotary club's board of directors, has been assisting the group. Interact Club students joined members of the Staten Island Rotary at a recent meeting to meet members and to be installed and officially presented with their charter, banner, gavel and certificates. Elizabeth Maddaluno, who teaches history, is the faculty moderator. "We're very excited to have the opportunity to represent our school and serve the community," said Victorio. "We're also grateful for the opportunity to work with professional Rotary Club members in the community." Already, students have been able to raise money for the Heifer Fund, which provides villages in developing countries with cows that will provide fresh milk. The club also hopes to raise funds to sponsor a "Lost Boy of Sudan", one of the victims of the embattled African nation. The club's hometown project is to raise awareness and funds for non-profits that aid the borough's autistic children and families. "We've done some research and we've been able to see that autism affects a lot of families on Staten Island. We'd like to help those families, as well as organizations like the G.R.A.C.E Foundation and Eden II, that serve those children and families," Victorio said. The students planto sponsor an ice- skating outing for autistic children and families. They will raise funds for the project through bake sales and by working with the school's Student Organization, which Victorio is also involved with. Interact student members also help out the Rotary Club with projects. The teens volunteered to help with cooking and serving food at the Rotary booth at the Richmond County Fair. They helped out at the Light the Night walk in Midland Beach, which raised funds for lymphoma and leukemia. "We're really off to a good start," Victorio said, "and we hope to spread the word and keep things moving along."

Diane Lore writes about schools and education for the Advance. Contact her at lore@siadvance.com. Look for her Chalk Talk column Thursdays during the school year in the Advance Shores editions and on-line at silive.com.