For our service learning project, we were asked to spotlight someone in our community. Together with my group, we decided to interview two teachers from our school—Mr. Shariff and Mrs. Mizhghona. We picked them because we realized we didn’t know much about them, and we guessed most students probably didn’t either. It felt like the perfect opportunity to learn more about the people who quietly make a big impact in our school.
I teamed up with Samwiri to interview Mr. Shariff, while Signe and Sana interviewed Mrs. Mizhghona. During our interview, we asked Mr. Shariff questions like, “What do you do for the community?” and “Why do you do what you do?” The conversation only lasted about five minutes, but honestly, it was one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole project. Sitting down with him and having that one-on-one conversation gave us a chance to see his personality and passion. I was surprised by how much we learned in such a short amount of time.
Mr. Shariff answered all our questions kindly and openly, and after the interview, he even let us take a selfie with him—which turned out to be a pretty great one.
After finishing the interviews, we started thinking about how to share what we had learned. As a group, we decided to create a “Community Spotlight” card in the form of a poster. Our plan is to hang them up around the school and also post them in various classes on ManageBac. We’re using both physical and online platforms to make sure everyone can see the amazing work these teachers are doing for our school and beyond.
Personally, I really enjoyed this experience. It taught me a lot—not just about the teachers, but also about time management and communication. We had to organize everything outside of class, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone. I spoke to a teacher I had never really interacted with before, and that was something new for me. It made me realize how many people in our school are doing meaningful work that often goes unnoticed.
In the end, I’m really glad we did this. I feel like I connected with someone I might never have gotten the chance to know otherwise, and I hope that through our spotlight posters, others will too.