Sydney Andrei first realized the true benefits of community service during a puppet show when she was in seventh-grade.

Andrei and her fellow students labored to design the sets and create the puppets, and the crowds joyous and thankful response to the show made a lasting impression.

“It’s not just for something,” said Andrei. “It makes you feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself. It definitely comes back on you in a good way.”

Now a senior at Windham High School, Andrei is taking the lead in a program established to help students fulfill the newly mandated community service requirement.

Though Windham High students must now complete 10 hours of community service per year to graduate, the Community Service Club, of which Andrei is the president and first member, hopes to elevate the services performed by students above that of mere requirement and make it a cherished, everyday part of the students’ lives.

“I’m pretty sure they think it’s a task … a pain,” said Andrei of the response by students to the new requirement. “But it will probably better the community, not just the school.”

Andrei’s first task is to connect students with community service opportunities that fit their particular talents and personalities. The school has started a Web site, www.windham.k12.me.us/whsinvolvedteens, where community members can submit and students can review service requests. Requests can also be submitted by phone by calling 892-1810, ext. 498.

The club is also holding a series of community meetings to gather ideas on how the club should work, with the next one scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in the open cafe at Windham High School.

The service requests are already coming in. Some, like a call for volunteers at Portland’s Wayside Soup Kitchen, are open to whoever is open and available on certain dates.

Other, more specific requests, like those asking for help with transportation, will at first be directed by Andrei toward students she knows are willing, reliable and responsible from past work on community projects through the school’s business simulation class, which is taught by club advisor Diane Leavitt and often completes service projects for Camp Sunshine.

“I know their style. I can say, this person, I know will do a good job,” said Andrei. Because the program is new, Andrei and Leavitt want to build a solid reputation within the community, and fear any missteps at the beginning would hurt the school in the long run.

“We’re building a foundation,” said Andrei.

A Closer Look:

Residents can submit requests to the Windham High School Community Service Club

Diane Leavitt, community service coordinator: 892-1810 x498 or whsinvolvedteens@windham.k12.me.us

The club is holding a community meeting Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in the open cafe at Windham High School.

The club’s student officers will likely be cast from the business simulation class for the first year, Leavitt said. After that, the officers will be chosen by the club members, she said.

Over time, as students see how the program works, and how their friends and classmates enjoy helping out in the community, they will seek out the club, said Leavitt. And as the community realizes how the program can help them, they will provide an endless string of opportunities, from helping the hungry or homeless to moving a neighbor’s couch or clearing a walkway, she said.

“There are unlimited possibilities,” said Leavitt.

It might take some students time to come around, Leavitt said. She expects her group will play a vital role for the students who realize in April or May that they need to complete their hours soon or risk not graduating.

“That’s when the club will really kick in,” she said.

In five years, said Andrei, the club will be established at Windham High and within the community.

“It’ll be a well-oiled machine. Phone calls will be flooding in. Students will be excited,” said Andrei, with a laugh.

In a short time, and with little publicity, the club has attracted a handful of requests. Among others, Camp Sunshine in Casco needs volunteers for its pumpkin festival, Windham’s The Bridges Foundation asks for students who want to devote time to the disabled, and Donna Morton, a popular teacher at the Manchester School, seeks students to aid her elderly father.

“Nothing is too small,” said Andrei.

Also among the requests is a note from Leavitt asking community members to submit new and unique ideas for student projects. For example, she said, students with a talent for art could help paint a decorative mural at a local business.

“What a cool way to get their community service,” said Leavitt.

The response has surprised Andrei, who when she first heard about the community service policy wondered how so many students were going to find ways to fulfill the requirement.

“I thought, I don’t know where we’ll find this many opportunities,” she said.

Now, as the requests come in, Andrei wants to make sure that students find projects that inspire them, so they can get the same feeling her and her classmates felt when they completed work at Camp Sunshine.

“I was enjoying it,” she said. “We don’t even think of it as community service.”

Diane Leavitt, a teacher at Windham High School, is also an advisor for the new Community Service Club headed by senior Sydney Andrei. Seniors are required to perform 10 hours of community service before graduating. The requirements increase 10 hours each year until seniors will need to perform 40 hours of service to graduate.