News
Email this story |
Print this story
Previous News Stories
June 24th, 2009
Our Town: Kaleb Lawson
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 12:47 PM PDT
Volunteer at Heart
By Kendall Watson Staff Writer
He volunteered for over 280 hours of labor last year, but Kaleb Lawson didn't think of it as work.
“I never really thought of doing what I do as community service ... When I'm doing it, it's something that I expect myself to do,” he said.
Finishing his senior year at the Marin School of Arts and Technology (MSAT), Lawson's a typical college-bound kid, looking for a summer job to save for college. On the other hand, he could be found working in his spare time at the Marin Youth Center's (MYC) table in the Farmers Market on Grant Avenue or setting up a dance class at the MYC in San Rafael. “Caribbean dancing,” he said. Teaching Caribbean dance? “It's just something I do for fun,” he said. In the fall, Lawson plans to attend St. Mary's College in Moraga.
Not long ago, Lawson was on a different path. As one of his mentors, MSAT principal Stewart Fox was proud of all that Lawson had accomplished. So much so that he even starred in one of the charter school's recruiting videos. ”He's a really upstanding character ... highly motivated in terms of doing his best in high school and getting ready for college. He's made outstanding progress,” Fox said. “When he was younger, he had a change of heart about school.” According to Lawson, the transformation reportedly came when he lived in Marin City and befriended Jupiter Collins and Isaac Harris. The trio joined a mentoring camp at the Headlands Institute “for social reasons,” but soon learned that meeting people wasn't the only agenda there. “We just thought it was just going to be a fun summer camp but it ended up being leadership training,” Lawson said. After the summer, he stuck with the Team Environmental Action Mentorship program year-round.
A small part of his volunteer work stems from the MSAT curriculum, which requires all juniors and seniors to complete an 80-hour internship. He was an instructional aide at Loma Verde Elementary last year, mentoring second-graders. This year, Lawson is wrapping up his 10-week internship with the public defender, where he spends eight hours every Monday shadowing attorneys as they filed briefs and motions in court and prepared their defense for clients.
“I'll be educated in how the law works ... I want to do something for the community, I'll bring that support to the cause.” It wasn't all a one-way-street. Directly applying what he learned at MSAT, Lawson held tutorial software sessions on how to effectively use PowerPoint in courtroom proceedings. “As part of the (workplace learning experience) we leave the workplace in better condition than when I found it,” he said.
Perhaps another source of his benevolence is in Lawson's role as an older bother to Cody, age 14. Born in Hayward, he grew up in Fresno as the oldest of three children. After his parents separated, Kaleb and his brother moved to Windsor and Marin City with their mother before settling down in Novato in December 2005. “It's harder with my little brother. He gets into a lot of trouble,” he said. “We need to get him on the right track. I just want to set a good example.”
Earlier this year, he was recognized at the Heart of Marin awards, sponsored by the Center for Volunteer and for volunteer and Non-Profit Leadership. He was honored as one of five youth Volunteers of the Year for his work at the Headlands Institute and the Marin Youth Center in San Rafael.
“I just do it because I like to do it and I think that's why a lot of people do it. I feel like, by me getting that award, it showed a lot of people in Marin City, showed a lot of my friends and family out there that you don't have to be rich or anything, or dedicated to solving world hunger (in community activism),” he said.
“It made me reflect on how I've grown from 14 to now,” Lawson said.
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of NovatoAdvance.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog; all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site. Any material that is contrary to good taste, contains objectionable material, is not in compliance with community standards or does not meet the standards of the Advance, will not be posted to the Web site.
Raquel wrote on Nov 25, 2007 8:06 PM: