ESSO Looks to Andover

With ESSO turnovers coming up in a week, and a search for a new adviser underway, students are reflecting on PEA’s service program and the ways in which it can be improved, mainly in attendance and fundraising.To gain some perspective members of PEA’s ESSO convened with members of Phillips Academy’s community service organization this fall to compare the two schools’ programs.“We talked about how and when students sign up for programs, as well as the differences between programs and clubs,” Monique Cueto-Potts, Andover’s Director of Community Service, said. “We also [shared] the different structures of our leadership board.”Unlike ESSO, Andover’s community service program is much smaller and more adult-leadership driven. Projects that are part of a broader movement, such as STAND and Campuses for Cancer, are led by clubs rather than community service groups.Senior and co-head of the ESSO group Exeter Microcredit, Audrey Zheng, noted that Andover’s club provides more hands-on service opportunities rather than program-oriented events and fundraisers.“They are called COMSERV, and every single one of their programs is direct service,” Zheng said. “So groups like Relay for Life and Amnesty International are all student activities clubs at Andover, and don’t function within COMSERV. Everything within COMSERV takes buses, goes into nearby towns, and does service there.”In light of the conference, Cueto-Potts outlined some of the key topics addressed, varying from ideas of a stricter attendance policy to the structure of the executive board of their program.“We discussed ways to hold volunteers accountable for their attendance, since we take attendance at every program and every session, and follow up with students who did not attend. We also talked about how and when students sign up for programs, the differences between programs and clubs, and the different structures of our leadership board,” she said.Zheng also noted that Andover’s program has greater faculty involvement than Exeter. Teachers have numerous responsibilities, including sending emails, enforcing attendance and making the decision of which programs will be offered for students.Many students noted both benefits and downsides to both the student-run versus teacher-led programs.“Here you can raise your own club. It is a very student driven thing, and we have our whole board who try to coordinate things and make things run smoothly,” Zheng said.Although faculty involvement may be reliable and beneficial, one of the qualities of ESSO is that all the programs correlated with the organization is student-run. While every student club has a faculty adviser, students make major decisions and all clubs that are part of the organization are led by students.ESSO co-president senior Yeji Jung felt that PEA’s approach was a better fit for Exonians.“I think a big pro [of ESSO] is that it is student run. All the clubs are built off of student initiative rather than being faculty driven, and that especially comes into play in the fact that it’s not mandatory,” Jung said. “It helps to make it feel a little more genuine since the students are doing it out of their own will.”Zheng agreed, stating that she believed the student-run nature of ESSO fueled student motivation, and sparked interest and initiative in starting new clubs.ESSO developed as a student-led organization under the guidance of Laurie Loosigian, the ESSO coordinator since its inception, who retired earlier this year. Loosigian did not respond to requests for comment about ESSO’s future.Although many students benefit from and enjoy the freedom of student run clubs, facing the ESSO board turnover decisions, which will be announced February 14, many students stated that there are ways in which ESSO could learn from Andover’s program and progress, in particular, progress.“At Andover, everything runs very efficiently. They don’t have problems with attendance, which has been an issue with ESSO, because adults will kick them out of the club if they miss more than a certain amount of meetings,” Zheng said.Upper Saisha Talwar also recognized more enforced rules such as mandatory attendance could potentially bring benefits to Exeter’s program.“I think that our ESSO could benefit from strictly enforced attendance for the club members, such as ‘ESSO dickies,’ or at least clearly list the expectations of being a club member and the consequences of not showing up week after week,” she said.Jung expressed another problem with ESSO’s current leaderships board being student run.“I think ESSO as with many other organizations on this campus can be used as a means to an end, so people can try to move up in the leadership ladder, just to have a club head position and so I think that intent is not the best way to go by doing ESSO,” she said.Funding, including ESSO clubs not being allowed to fundraise, has also emerged as a topic of discussion. “For a school that prides itself on being non-sibi, we should be willing to put more resources into ESSO,” upper Paige Harouse said. “What about the fund from Community Action day? Now that it's canceled, where did that money go?”Harouse felt that many clubs could benefit from increased funding.“I don't understand how we can be expected to run a club that helps girls education in developing countries and be non sibi when we can't fundraise enough to directly impact girls’ access to education. Symposiums and talks and assembly speakers can only do so much,” she said.Despite the problems that need to be faced, Talwar concluded that after the turnover, ESSO will endeavor to advance into a stronger organization."Although the new plans of ESSO is very dependent on who the new board is comprised of, we will strive to progress and improve in numerous areas."