Laasya Gadamsetti

Senior Laasya Gadamsetti has volunteered over 350 hours of community service in her four years at West High. By serving over 200 hours at Astoria Gardens, she developed positive connections with the elderly by playing chess and piano with them. Gadamsetti was driven to continue volunteering at Astoria for the positive impact on her life, saying “When I was there, I felt like I mattered, and I felt like I was making a difference.”  Gadamsetti also volunteered as a Bridge tutor for students who need extra help after school, worked at robotics tournaments and served at various other events in Tracy to stay involved with the community. Due to her participation in the Space and Engineering Academy (SEA) and the Youth Advisory Commission of Tracy, Gadamsetti feels that being supportive of the community improves our city as a whole.

Jaekob Borges

Senior Jaekob Borges has served over 300 hours in various areas around Tracy. He volunteered a majority of those hours for a local haunted house which donated proceeds to an animal shelter, helped out around the Tracy Animal shelter itself, assisted at the SEA’s annual boot camp for incoming freshmen and more. In the beginning, he volunteered to fulfill the SEA requirements for community service but was motivated to go beyond them and help out more. Borges enjoys volunteering as he feels he gives back to his hometown, and it also helped him make connections to other people. He recommends going to the Career Center and considering your choices, since there are numerous opportunities to improve the community.

Kalaya Collins

Senior AVID student Kalaya Collins has volunteered over 100 hours in different areas of Tracy, including spending time as a basketball referee at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Tracy, leading sixth grade students through Science Camp, serving at crab feed fundraisers for the Hispanic community and working with an Oakland cheer leading group to clean up the streets. As a basketball player and a former cheerleader, Collins chose to help areas close to her heart in order to have fun while volunteering. She first got involved to fulfill the AVID community service requirement, but found that she was able to make bonds and learn more about others in the process. In addition, her hours in the community helped her narrow down possible future professions. To any student who is unsure of how to get involved, Collins recommends to “stay close to what you like and find something you like that can be incorporated positively into your community.”

Jordan Mangskau

Jordan Mangskau, a senior in SEA, has served over 300 hours to Girl Scouts, the annual Brighter Christmas program and both animal shelters in Tracy. She became involved in these areas because she felt connected to these programs due to long-term commitments. Mangskau feels accomplished after investing time into a program she loves, and she especially appreciates how serving the community taught her important lessons such as responsibility, teamwork and challenging herself. She recommends to “put yourself out there…it pushes you to take responsibility and it helps you in the future.”