Dodge City Community College Concert Choir takes on community service project

By Eric Swanson

DODGE CITY — Sixteen students bustled around a Wright Park
picnic shelter Monday, cleaning graffiti and putting fresh paint on
the shelter.

The students belong to the Dodge City Community College Concert
Choir, and they were working on the picnic shelter as a community
service project before the semester ends.

The project was the brainchild of DCCC’s director of choirs,
Jodi Reese, who brought the community service tradition with her
from Bethany College in Lindsborg. Reese taught at Bethany for four
years before moving to Dodge.

“I require it of my groups as part of their activities
throughout the semesters,” said Reese, who worked with the students
on Monday. “It’s a really good time for us to give back to the
community, but to have a day of working together and learn more
about each other. So it’s good for us as a group as well.”

Reese was looking for a project for this semester, so she
reached out to her colleagues at DCCC. They put her in touch with
Dodge City’s public information director, Jane Longmeyer, who
suggested the Wright Park project.

Reese said her students enjoyed the opportunity to work together
and took satisfaction in making Wright Park more attractive.

“One of the shelter houses had a lot of graffiti, so we were
very glad to paint over that to bring it up to a family-friendly
area for the community to enjoy,” she said. “Just that positive
feeling of giving back to your community that has given you so
much.”

Cimmarron sophomore David Fisher said the project gave him an
opportunity to bond with his fellow choir members. “It was real
fun,” he said. “I enjoyed it.”