Giving Tuesday: LFCDS Young Alumni Give Back

Lake Forest Country Day School alumni are the products of an early educational emphasis on strong character and responsible citizenship. On this Giving Tuesday, it is fitting to reflect on all of the alumni who have gone on to fulfill various volunteer and community service roles at home and abroad. LFCDS alumni have a vested interest in helping others and are making memorable impacts on people’s lives across the globe. Below are four examples of young alumni who have recently graduated from LFCDS and are already making inroads as leaders through their outreach and service.

Karisma Chhabria ’11: Volunteering to Better Understand Healthcare Delivery

Karisma Chhabria ’11 is a current sophomore at Brown University studying cell and molecular biology, working to understand healthcare delivery in a broader and more holistic context. Hoping to give back to the university and Providence communities, Karisma strives to contribute to the academic, medical, and social facets of good health and its improvement over time. She enjoys being an instructor for the state Brain Bee, from which a local high school student with a passion for neuroscience will be selected to compete on the national level for a research internship. She also works night shifts as a volunteer emergency medical technician on Brown’s campus, providing basic life-support care on the ambulance and transporting patients to surrounding hospitals. Lastly, she serves as an advocate within Rhode Island Hospital for Connect for Health, an organization that connects clients to resources to fulfill basic needs such as food, utilities, childcare, and legal counsel. Over the past year Karisma has worked with more than forty clients in an attempt to address the social determinants of medicine that directly affect daily life. Ultimately, she hopes to help wherever assistance is needed, whether in a classroom, on the ambulance, or over the phone, in a wonderful community collectively striving towards better health.

Wesley Dixon ’14: Serving the Lake County Community

Wesley Dixon has been passionate about community service ever since he graduated LFCDS in 2014. In his eighth-grade year, he initiated a partnership with GLASA where their wheelchair basketball team played the LFCDS varsity football team in a game of wheelchair basketball. Wesley is now in charge of Community Service and Leadership for CROYA and coordinates community service opportunities for high school students in Lake Forest. Most recently, he volunteered at the House of Peace in Waukegan, a shelter for families of domestic violence. While there, the CROYA students spent the day making a meal for the kids while their mothers were at work. In addition, they entertained the children by playing whiffle ball, dancing, and having a water balloon fight.

Jessica Puryear ’12: Turning a Passion for Service into a Career

Jessica Puryear ’12 is a strong proponent of finding ways to give back to the community and encouraging others to do so. While attending Lake Forest High School, she was involved in volunteer roles with several of the school’s service clubs such as Red Cross Club. “Organizing blood drives, fundraising for disaster relief, and collecting clothing for various nonprofits with Red Cross Club were great ways to learn about needs not only locally, but internationally as well,” says Jessica. While at LFCDS and during high school, she was also involved with two special organizations: Girl Scouts of the USA and Equestrian Connection. Jessica mentions, “Girl Scouts is a wonderful organization that provides girls with life-changing experiences and teaches them valuable leadership skills while giving back to the community. Through Girl Scouts, I earned Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards working with various community organizations.” Jessica continues, “The Gold Award is equivalent to the Eagle Scout award, and for this project I created a sustainable lending library for families with children in the Evanston NICU.” Jessica also worked with the Equestrian Connection whose mission is to “improve the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of those with special needs by providing equine-assisted and therapeutic programming.” Currently, Jessica is a freshman at Lynchburg College and has joined Alpha Phi Omega, an organization that focuses on providing volunteer service to the community and to the nation. Jessica mentions, “The experiences with Equestrian Connection have inspired me to pursue a career in the special education field.”

Anna Schilling ’16: Innovating and Educating to Help the Environment

Anna Schilling ’16 graduated from LFCDS just last year. Already she is making an impact as a freshman at Lake Forest Academy. Engagement in community service and being able to give back to the world in a positive manner is something Anna continually strives to accomplish. This year, Anna worked with Mark Arthur, Head of the Science Department at LFCDS, to finish her mason bee houses in the Greene Outdoor Laboratory at Lake Forest Country Day School. This project, which started as part of her work with the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL), entails helping the bee population survive. Bees were recently added to the endangered species list, and, as important pollinators, they play a vital role in our ecosystems. Anna designed, built, and installed four bee houses for the Greene Outdoor Laboratory. Working alongside both Mr. Arthur and her CCL mentor, Carrie Travers, Anna helped build the infrastructure for the bee houses. The largest component of the service project however will be the education piece, to take place this spring. Anna plans to teach LFCDS students about mason bees and their importance as integral producers in our ecosystems. Anna also aims to extend this knowledge to students in North Chicago schools, where she will teach them environmental conservation and hopes to foster responsible stewards of the Earth.