Viewpoint School students raise money for Zeitgeist

For the past year and a half, students from Viewpoint School in Calabasas have been helping to raise money for Zeitgeist Community Learning Center, a nonprofit afterschool and summer program in the Crenshaw area.

Dubbed the Zeitgeist Committee, 10 Viewpoint students and two alumni contributed over 2,000 hours of unpaid service and helped raise more than $55,000 for the center last year. In addition to planning last year's swim-athon, which raised more than $32,000, the group has made regular trips to the center to tutor the children and help out with activities such as homework; civics, science, law and world geography workshops; yoga classes; and field trips.

Last summer the Zeitgeist Committee chaperoned field trips to Pepperdine University, Star Eco Station, the newly reopened Griffith Observatory, Children's Nature Institute Walk-athon, and Sea World, where children had the opportunity to spend the night in the Shark Encounter exhibit. The committee has also hosted holiday parties and arranged for the children at Zeitgeist to attend Topanga Elementary School's Halloween Carnival two years in a row.

Last fiscal year the Zeitgeist Committee was responsible for obtaining grants for $10,000 from Santa Maria Trails and Parks Association, $5,000 from Joseph Stanley Leeds Charitable foundation and a number of private donations to help secure the future of the young organization.

"They inspire me," said Zeitgeist founder Jake Phillips. "For teenagers to make such a commitment, and show such dedication purely out of the goodness of their hearts, it gives me hope."

Michelle Germain, 16, contributed 250 hours of service to Zeitgeist last year and has worked extensively with the students at the center. "The children and I have been able to open our eyes to worlds with which we were previously unfamiliar," she said. "It has been a learning experience for all involved."

Jared Stern, 16, has contributed more than 350 hours of service to Zeitgeist in the last year and a half, well above Viewpoint School's 40-hourr equirementfor graduation. Stern supports the requirement and would like to see it implemented in more schools. "(The requirement) makes it so people actually involve themselves in community service."

The Calabasas City Council presented the Zeitgeist Committee, which includes Germain, Stern, Alex Van Trigt, John Anderson, Valerie Pitsch, Nicole Lotte, Cherish Pichetrungsi, Hunter Pritchard, Nicole Klein and Cassidy Case, with certificates of honor in recognition of their efforts in the community.

"The reward for our work at Zeitgeist is walking into the center and seeing the happiness and joy on the faces of the children and their willingness to learn," Stern said.

The Zeitgeist Committee will hold their second annual swimathon Sun., April 6 at Pierce College. For more information, visit www.zclc.org.