Few things will make teenagers want to return to school after getting out a few hours earlier. A dance? Perhaps. A nail biting basketball or football match? Probably. A volunteer fair? Absolutely. Such was the case on the evening of Thursday, April 7 when nearly two hundred students and parents flooded the North Point cafeteria to explore the opportunities available to them at thirty six different community organizations.

Every facet of Charles County society was represented, from the Charles County Arts Alliance, which distributed glow sticks and wristbands, to the Bay K9 Search and Recovery, accompanied by two lively basset hounds. Arrayed across at tables across the room, each group amassed a sizable crowd that listened intently to what was being said.

Each student had a different reason for going to the Fair. “I came to learn about the organizations here in our community and opportunities to give back,” said Josh Land (’13) as he finished a conversation with a representative from the Charles County Government Environmental Resources Department. Land also made the point that he is eager to take on any opportunity that allows him to help those in the area that “are not as blessed as we are”.

The idea to hold the Fair, an event never previously held at North Point, was conceived by Judy Prinkey, a Parent-Teacher-Student Organization Board member. “We wanted to make it easier for high school students to find out how they could volunteer in our community.”

For a first time event, the Fair was a smashing success, especially considering the Lacrosse games, premier of the spring musical, and other events that were being held simultaneously. “I thought it was a great turnout and it shows how youth want to help the community,” stated Will Coughlin, a North Point junior and member of the National Honor Society, whose students were exemplary volunteers at the Volunteer Fair.

It wasn’t just the students who benefited from participating in the event. Heather Zeolla, Coordinator for Service and Volunteerism at Volunteer Southern Maryland at the College of Southern Maryland, stressed that “it’s really important for teens to get out and know their community” because they never know what services they will end up benefiting from themselves.

The PTSO and Prinkey plan to make the North Point Volunteer Fair an annual event. One only needs to look at the turnout this year to see why.