Darren Rabinowitz will graduate from Morristown High School this spring with a résumé that includes student council service, theater roles, the Latin Club, improv comedy, wrestling, swimming and track.
And now he can add “concert promoter” to the list.
Carevolution Live will feature four musical acts tonight, April 15, in the high school cafeteria. The event was hatched by students, for students, to promote the expansion of a popular mentoring program called Peer Group Connection.
Darren is a “peer leader,” too.
“I realized there is more to education than studying and hitting the books,” the senior said. “Giving back to the community that gives you so much is a part of learning, part of maturing.”
Giving back is a central theme of Carevolution; the name is a mashup of “Caring” and “Revolution.”
Video promo by Morristown High School junior Joey Gatto:
In Peer Group Connection, freshmen meet weekly with seniors who are trained in basic counseling. All freshmen must participate; among seniors, competition is stiff to become peer leaders. Some 125 seniors applied for 48 positions this year, according to multimedia teacher Brian Vagnini, a PGC adviser. What’s the draw?
“A lot of kids want to be teachers,” Brian said. “And they enjoy being there for other kids.”
Seniors are graded on their involvement. The program is meant to help freshmen get acclimated to the school, and to provide role models.
Darren still remembers James Murphy, the senior who advised him four years ago.
“He was the captain of the swim team and a really nice guy, genuinely nice. And I wanted to be like him.”
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A NEW WRINKLE
Morristown High School has had the Peer Group Connection for about 15 years. The new wrinkle is community service.
Grow It Green Morristown, Morris Habitat for Humanity, Children on the Green, the Morristown Neighborhood House, Sustainable Morristown, the Morristown Partnership and MorristownGreen.com are among local organizations invited to create service projects with students.
The organizations will meet with students at a “summit” later this month.
“It will be great to expose all the Morristown High School students to Grow It Green Morristown, as we always are in need of volunteers,” said Carolle Huber, co-founder of the nonprofit that operates the Urban Farm at Lafayette, a community garden.
“The Urban Farm experience is something we’d like them to take home to their families, and get even more people involved and aware,” she said. “We are very happy to be included in this project.”
Paul Miller, coordinator of the town sustainability office, said he was impressed by the seniors’ creativity, enthusiasm and ability to juggle so many activities while planning the concert, summit and a recycling project.
“This is the first step toward a more integrated approach to community service,” he said.
Morristown High School is among about 90 schools across New Jersey with PGC programs that get training and support from the nonprofit Princeton Center for Leadership Training, which receives funding from the Morristown-based Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
Students and organizations in Morristown are breaking new ground with their community service partnerships, said Laura Fenster Rothschild of the Princeton Center. Many high schools operate in isolation, she said. Not so in Morristown, where the school is part of the town’s fabric.
“It’s a big live-and-work community,” said history teacher Persis Mehta, a PGC adviser.
“So many parents own businesses here. People really love this town,” added her colleague, Brian Vagnini.
RAISING THE BAR
To boost student interest in the summit, PGC seniors came up with Carevolution Live. Darren took charge.
A pair of local bands, Roadwork Ahead and Groovetopia, featuring Morristown seniors P.J. Brutzman and John Nally, will start the show. They will be followed by two professional acts, New York beat boxer/rapper Rabbi Darkside and 3rd Party, and Philadelphia rapper Tayyib Ali.
The concert is for students and is not open to the general public.
Student tickets cost $10. With those proceeds and money from five bake sales, PGC seniors hope to turn a modest profit. The funds will be left for next year’s PGC program, said Devon DeGilio, a peer leader who stepped up to help Darren organize Carevolution Live.
“I’ve learned to take initiative,” said Devon, who plays soccer, volunteers at Habitat for Humanity, edits a section of the school yearbook and is an officer in the Future Business Leaders of America. “If you want to get something done, you need to put yourself into it.”
English teacher Claudine Priola, the school’s PGC coordinator, said this year’s group has raised the bar for future classes.
“I am so impressed by what the kids have put together,” she said. “They have exceeded my expectations. I think they have gained so much from this process. They have learned important life long skills such as organization, communication, and planning. These will serve them well in their future endeavors.”
Darren and Devon said Carevolution Live has taught them how to delegate tasks, and how to deal with that infectious seasonal disorder, Senioritis.
“I just try to surround myself with kids who will work the hardest,” said Darren, whose dad, a business owner, helped with the concert contracts while his mom supplied moral support.
The rest is adrenaline, he said.
For Devon, who wants to be a special education teacher, coffee is her fuel. She enjoys helping others and hopes that is the legacy of Carevolution Live and the PGC summit.
“We want this to continue for years into the future,” she said. “We’re hoping that through creating this awareness, people will be more involved in the community.”
“I realized there is more to education than studying and hitting the books,” the senior said. “Giving back to the community that gives you so much is a part of learning, part of maturing.” Darren is ahead of his years. Most people don’t realize this until later on, or never learn it at all.