Events & Activities
At schools all over Orange County, NY, the National Service Ride project presents service-learning seminars along with the Orange County Youth Bureau, helping eager young people better understand the meaning and value of being a person of service, not just to the benefit of their community and country but especially to themselves. They also learn about the Youth Bureau’s many opportunities for self-improvement through summer volunteer programs, as junior Medical Service Corps members, and in internships with the Orange County government, as well as the opportunities the American Legion Orange County NY provides for young people to become good citizens, including annual Boys’ and Girls’ State civic camps, and the youth guardian program with the Hudson Valley Honor Flight. All of these help high schoolers qualify for the New York State Civic Seal of Readiness. For more pictures, stories and messages about the Project, go to its Facebook Page. (Photo courtesy of Pine Bush High School.)
Since its revival in 2022, the Project has been proud to be partnering with the Orange County Youth Bureau and in particular Michael Bark, pictured here with Monroe-Woodbury High School health class faculty just after delivering seven separate classes in February 2024. So far, we have delivered civic engagement and service-learning presentations to the students of at least nine Orange County schools, on a more or less repetitive basis, to expand, enhance, and integrate civil engagement and service-learning curriculum. More schools are coming on board, as momentum builds with initiation of the New York State Civic Seal of Readiness in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Monroe-Woodbury High School.)
Col. (Ret.) Holshek speaks with 7th-12th grade students and some members of the community on the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 at George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo, NY. The presentation was in support of its PACE (presentations, activities, collaborations and events) program to enhance educational and social interactions in the school, community and society. Along with Michael Bark from the Orange County Youth Bureau, he also met with students from George Grant Mason Elementary, where they learned that while you can’t control when bad things like 9/11 happen, you can control how you respond to those things. “Thanks to Col. Holshek and Mr. Bark, our Tuxedo students are on their way to becoming better community citizens and helping to make the world around them a better place,” the school district’s Facebook page posted. (Photo courtesy of George F. Baker High School.)
Col. (Ret.) Holshek and Michael Bark from the Orange County Youth Bureau, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ricardo Singleton, a member of the Buffalo Riders Motorcycle Club of West Point, NY, pose with members of the faculty of James. P. O'Neill High School in Highland Falls, NY, including the Junior ROTC instructor, after delivering a service-learning presentation to juniors and seniors prior to their annual volunteer fair. "It's really important for the students to get this presentation before going to the fair," Holshek explained to them at a meeting with school leaders before the event. "This is because, by learning the 'what,' 'why,' and 'how' of civic service before they go to the fair, they have better chance to find what they're looking for because they know why they're there. (Photo courtesy of James P. O'Neill High School.)
Among the first school districts in Orange County, NY where the National Service Ride Project began its revival in 2021-22 was at Pine Bush, NY, which runs a series of summer "academies." With the Orange County Youth Bureau and the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of West Point, NY, the Project has regularly appeared at its Leadership & Law Academy. Another impressive initiative, likewise under the guidance of recently retired principal, Army veteran, and local American Legion Post 1308 member Aaron "Hop" Hopmayer, is a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) academy placing around 30-40 graduates each in well-paying jobs with local industries. Due in part to the Project, an important component for certification in both the Leadership & Law and STEAM academy programs is a substantial community service requirement. (Photo courtesy of Pine Bush High School.)
”By bringing people together in service to each other, we can start to move beyond our divisiveness and the self-isolation of our echo chambers. When we see the common denominator of shared values as much as the numerators of our varied opinions, we can still learn to respect each other for what we do and not just what we say,” Holshek said at the “Honor2Serve” event the Town of Woodbury, NY over the 2017 Veterans Day weekend. When reviving the Project as the pandemic ended in 2021-22, he explained to audiences at town hall meetings the one rule he had for the project – no politics! In explaining his concern about politicization of the project, he asked audiences to consider: “If politics is so much the reason for our current predicament, how in the hell can politics be the answer?” (Photo courtesy of the Woodbury Senior Center.)
Arthur L. Johnson senior Nicholas Makosiej talks about the impact of community service on his life, particularly as an emergency medical technician. “Community service allows me to enable others to do what they love,” Makosiej said at a May 2017 event. That set off a string of testimonials from fellow students about what they are doing outside their schoolwork within their community in Clark-Westfield, NJ, surprising and energizing the audience. “You can’t find out who you are and what you’re about through your smartphone or on Snapchat,” Holshek explained further to the more than 400 juniors and seniors there. “Like most technology, they don’t give you an identity. They are powerful tools, but like power and rights in general, there also come risks and responsibilities along with their privileges.” (Photo courtesy of Arthur L. Johnson High School.)
Kennesaw State University students read the names of military neighbors killed in action since 9/11. The “Mindful Moment of Gratitude” made possible by Armor Down enabled them to connect sacrifice and service at national and community levels and honor veterans by giving them a country worth their sacrifice through their own service, helping to close civil-military gaps in our society. “The Journey of a Thousand Miles – The Roadmap to Your Community” was co-hosted by KSU’s Center for Student Leadership, the United Nations Association Atlanta Chapter, and TRENDS Global, Inc. in September 2016. KSU adopted Travels with Harley as a text for two of its courses that fall and the next spring. (Photo courtesy of Kennesaw State University.)
The student council president at North County High School of Anne Arundel County, just outside Baltimore, opens up the presentation in September 2016 as part of the Maryland’s Day to Serve initiative. “You don’t need to be smarter or richer to do great things,” Col. (ret.) Holshek told the underprivileged students, “You only need courage and humility – and that’s something we can all find.” This was Holshek’s first appearance in a series of “proof of concept” National Service Ride events in 2016-17. The project then ran into delays due to family and overseas commitments and the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of North County High School of Anne Arundel County.)