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Exploring
Service Options at Antioch
By Lauren
Heaton
"Okay, Vegan Power,
you're up! Lift like you've never lifted before!" barked
Yellow Springs Fire Chief Colin Altman at third-year student Matthew
Jaffe '04,
aka Vegan Power. At the Yellow Springs Fire Station, the volunteers
and staff get to know each other quickly.
Third-year Community Responsibility Scholar Matthew Jaffe, weighted
down by canary yellow fireproof armor and helmet, braced himself against
the fire engine to lift his end of the ladder. Second-year AmeriCorps volunteer
Carl D. Reeverts, also lodged into rubber gear, got under the other end
of the ladder and faltered just slightly when it came down off the rack.
After they had shouldered the dense metal contraption a full tour
around the truck, they heaved it back in place, and Altman continued the
fire training for the new pack of men and women up for the job of volunteer
firefighter. Training runs an intense two-month course of 16 hours per week,
after which trainees need to pass the certification boards for firefighters.
 |
| Carl D. Reeverts '05, left, and Matthew
Jaffe '04 fulfill service hours at the Yellow Springs Fire
Department. |
"They can't play just yet," Altman said, smiling at the two men-turned-schoolboys
living their childhood dreams. "The fire department is a co-op employer
that allows students to take what they've learned in the classroom
and apply it to making decisions about medical, psychological, and management
issues." Altman got his start in the fire business at the volunteer
fire department on campus while he was an Antioch student between
1986 and 1993.
"The last thing I ever wanted to do was to be fire chief," Altman began. "But
volunteering helped fine tune what I wanted and what I'm good at.
Even if they don't make a career out of it, it's a physical
and an emotional challenge. About a dozen Antioch students volunteer
at the department each year, and they make an important impact."
As part of the certification process, Jaffe and Reeverts must be able
to suit up in 70 seconds with an air pack, adding a total of 40 lbs to their
body weight. They still have a month to prepare.
"I'm down to 120 seconds right now," Reeverts said. He began
volunteering on campus by teaching swimming lessons at the Antioch pool.
He didn't know about the AmeriCorps program, but he thought he should
volunteer anyway.
"Antioch puts a big emphasis on community, so [volunteering] kind of
goes without saying," he said.
When he realized he could take advantage of AmeriCorps funding, he
decided to devote himself to a bigger commitment for fire training.
When the popularity of the training program reached
Jaffe's ears,
he had already become interested in learning how to prepare for an
emergency medical or fire situation. Should one come up, he wanted to
know how to
save lives.
Community activism took root for Jaffe while he was serving meals
to homeless people with Food Not Bombs back home in Michigan. He came to
Antioch with an activist tilt and during his first year continued cooking
vegan soups in the dorm kitchen for homeless shelters in Dayton. Wednesday
nights he and other volunteers would serve approximately 100 people while
hoping to educate them about the nutrition, economy and politics of vegetarian
food.
"Some people were appreciative, and some complained we weren't serving
meat, but it was always gratifying to see people cooking together to feed
others who didn't always have the means to buy food themselves," Jaffe
said.
During his second year at school, Jaffe chose to tutor and mentor
youth at the Springfield Academy of Excellence. His approach to education
hinged on cultivating trust between himself and the youth by being open
and sharing in a supportive way.
He feels he would not have explored the service options he engaged
in without support and guidance from the CCL office. Just hearing about
the programs and service partners that existed and having access to these
opportunities was very important.
"I feel fortunate to have had the opportunities the scholarship brought,
and knowing the money has come from my participation in the community is
pretty rewarding," Jaffe said. "It's important that everyone
at Antioch has the same opportunity."
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