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Reilly Mark<\/p>\n Reilly Mark<\/p>\n
MAST rising senior Reilly Mark\u2019s goal is to earn 1,000 community service hours before the end of high school. Earlier this summer she had 761 hours but expected to gain more by the time school begins.<\/p>\n
Over the years she has garnered a good number of hours by volunteering at the Jimmy Johnson Atlantic City Quest for the Ring \u2013 a fishing tournament. There is also a fishing tournament in Miami, but she works at the one in Atlantic City.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the Miami one is during school,\u201d she says. \u201cWe focus more on this one, as much as we are going to help, we take it as a trip. We have a day of fun, and the rest is for the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
She works the registration desk giving out lanyards, setting up rule tapes and answering questions. During the tournament, she helps with merchandise sales.<\/p>\n
Before the tournament, she helps collate the packets with the rules and the measuring tapes. The tournaments usually draw 60 boats with five to ten people on each boat. This year\u2019s tournament was held July 12-18.<\/p>\n
Locally, Mark is a designated mentor at Shake-a-Leg in Coconut Grove.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program is Weekend Sail,\u201d she says. \u201cI go every Saturday and volunteer during the school year. We work with mentally and physically disabled people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark says they take them out on the water in kayaks, boats, or sailboats. They go to the sand bars or islands and they go swimming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would get assigned one child,\u201d she says. \u201cThe number of mentors would vary. Sometimes you have to take care of more than one person. We would take them on water rides, and we would go to an island, during the summer. We would do summer camp. And they would explore and go into the ocean; we would take them on adventures.\u201d<\/p>\n
The volunteers are often paired up with the same regular participants, although sometimes they
are responsible for more than one.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to adapt and learn to take care of each and every one of them,\u201d she says. \u201cI love it. It was fun. You do have moments, where they run away and they slip out of sight.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even with those moments, she says she loves volunteering there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many good moments,\u201d she says. \u201cThe special bonds you make with the kids. They start to recognize you as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark also volunteered as a counselor at the Casa Dei Bambini, a Montessori school, for four years during the summer helping supervise children, leading activities and mentoring students of all ages.<\/p>\n
At MAST, she is a member of the Jewish Student Union, the Muslim Student Association, the
Black Student Union, Film Club, Mindfulness Club, Best Buddies and Fit Club. She is also a member of the National Honor Society of High School Scholars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a friend in each one (of the clubs), so I joined,\u201d she says. \u201cI felt like it was cool to learn about other\u2019s culture. In the Muslim Student Association \u2013 they make a bread dish and it was really good. I\u2019ve never had it again and I\u2019d like to try it again. It was cool to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the classes she took earned her certifications in CPR and AED, lifeguarding for deep and shallow water and certified in SCUBA. She learned paddle boarding, kayaking, and canoeing.<\/p>\n
With college application season just around the corner, she\u2019s still undecided as to a major
although she\u2019s leaning toward tourism and hospitality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also have an appreciation of the ocean,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Mark plans to stay in state and attend a Florida University, possibly UCF, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Atlantic, FIU and FSU.<\/p>\n
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld<\/p>\n
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