Shorewood Senior Finds Path in Volunteering

At a time in life when one's future seems the least certain but the most important, with school and friends pulling every which way, Shorewood High School senior Jenny Tasse has found something constant she loves in the middle of it all — volunteering.

While Tasse waits anxiously to hear whether she is accepted to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and juggles Advanced Placement classes, a competitive mock trial team and other student organizations, she always finds time to give to her community.

Two years ago, Tasse said an admistrator asked her to be a student liaison for an intergenerational workgroup that organizes a . The group is an initiative of Shorewood Connects, which works to make Shorewood a more elder-friendly community.

On Nov. 5, over 100 volunteers raked for about 40 households. Many were students that Tasse helped recruit.

"It's not about the leaves; it's about the connection you make," Tasse said.

She said as part of the group, she has learned that there are many Shorewood residents who feel like they can't be part of the community.

"We call them shut-ins; they just don't come out," she said. "Maybe you lose a spouse, or your kids are all off somewhere else. People feel like there's no reason for them to be part of the community. We try to bring them back into the community ... If they never go out, what are they getting out of life then?"

For Tasse, community is a vital part of life, and she consistently pushes herself to become more involved, and to give more of her time to it.

Tasse said she first got hooked on volunteering in middle school when she helped stock a food pantry with the Hunger Task Force.

"It’s really nerdy but I thought it was awesome," she said.

In high school, Tasse transferred from the Milwaukee Jewish Day School to Shorewood High School.

She credits that change with allowing her to become her own person.

"I’m not trying to be corny," Tasse said. "I’m seriously not. Shorewood is so much different than other schools. When I came here I felt like I could be anyone I wanted to be, not the Juicy Couture, make-up wearing person.

"Before I was always like, how is this person looking at me? Now I just really couldn’t give a hoot about that. It’s more about, how can I make this person happy?"

Connections with teachers have also helped her affirm her drive and identity. 

"I have a teacher at school who I call mom," Tasse said, referring to Debra Schwinn, who coaches mock trial. "You don't have that awkward barrier between student and teacher, and that makes it a better learning environment."

Last year Tasse started Volunteer Shorewood, a high school student organization that promotes and organizes volunteer opportunities.

"It’s not what I can do for people, but what I get out of it. I feel like in high school people sit around way too much, and I’m not a sports girls. I kind of felt like, what I can do?"

Tasse was regularly volunteering as a tutor at Atwater Elementary and got about eight students to join her on this initiative, among many others.

"With all the budget cuts, I thought, why can’t we do that little boost for the community?"

The group also organized a shoe drive, which surprised Tasse with the number of donations.

"It's not very hard," Tasse said. "Not that much effort and a little bit of enthusiasm brings the community together so simply. I don’t think that I’m like brilliant for doing this; it’s the easiest thing anyone can do."

Tasse also volunteers with the Holton Youth and Family Center where she tutors and serves as the vice president of the Youth Leadership Council.

"I can be having a terrible day, and it just brightens me up when I go there," she said. "I get a lot of out it. I’m meeting kids who I would never meet otherwise, and my eyes have been opened completely."

Sue Kelley, a project facilitator with Shorewood Connects, said Tasse always brings enthusiasm to her volunteering no matter how busy the rest of life gets.

"There aren’t enough words to describe Jenny," Kelley said. "She’s phenomenal, she’s optimistic, enthusiastic. She brings great energy to everything she does and she works really hard. I wish there were many more Jenny’s in the world."