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NewsDepth A+: Sandusky Club of Gentlemen

An important part of being a good citizen is working to make your community a better place. Through volunteering, helping others, and working to become better leaders, that’s exactly what the Sandusky Club of Gentlemen are doing in their community. This week's NewsDepth A+ Award goes to the Sandusky Club of Gentlemen for working hard to improve their community and be better citizens.

The Sandusky Club of Gentlemen is a dedicated group of students from Sandusky Middle School and Sandusky High School. The group is open to any boy in the school, but there is a high expectation of commitment. To earn a varsity letter, group members in 7th and 8th grade are expected to volunteer at least 30 hours, 9th and 10th graders are expected to volunteer 40 hours, and the 11th and 12th graders are expected to volunteer 50 hours over the course of the year. In the 2019 - 2020 school year, the group served 1400 hours of community service!

“We work on a lot of things with the men involved. One of our main goals is to improve as people. We focus a lot on our communications skills, manners, confidence, scholarship, and giving back to our community,” lead teacher Dustin Sharp explained.

He went on to tell us that the group has a reputation across the City of Sandusky and a wide range of organizations reach out for their help with all kinds of events including food drives, 5K races, and park clean ups. The Club of Gentleman has even created a clothing bank that provides people with professional clothes that they might need for job interviews or special events.   The idea started with the school principal and I joined to help.“It started t in 2007 with 12 eighth graders. The principal  came back from a meeting about giving back and working on your manners, communication skills, and leadership” shared eighth grade teacher Mr. Sharp. “I’m really proud of the group because here we are 14 years later with 66 gentlemen in grades seven through 12.” 

Mr. Sharp also tells us that some of his colleagues are starting a similar club for the young women at Sandusky Middle and Sandusky High Schools called the Leading Ladies. We’ll be looking forward to hearing about the work they do.

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m feeling really motivated to give back to my community after hearing about these young men. This weeks’ NewsDepth A+ Award goes to the Sandusky Club of Gentleman for working to be better citizens and giving back to their community. Go Blue Streaks!

Submit your ideas for our NewsDepth A+ segment to newsdepth@ideastream.org for consideration.