March is Social Work Month, and the members of the Social Work Club are working hard to spread the word about their organization and what they do. In addition to preparing for events that help the community, the club is also trying to raise awareness of the Social Work Major and the club’s mission. The clubs officers recently discussed their organization’s mission to The Clock in a meeting in front of the HUB. “What we try to do is help out in the community and have a good time doing it,” says secretary Heather Scott, “and interact with other people in the community and try to get people at PSC involved.” “And through doing that, we are preparing ourselves for a career in social work,” adds treasurer Meghann Hogan. “So we try to have a variety of activities, that’s why we’re working with the elderly, working with younger kids in the Circle Program. In our jobs, we’re going to have a big variety of work to do, and that’s what we try to do.” These activities have included volunteering at a recent blood drive, taking part in a Human Food Chain for hunger, and preparing a Christmas wish list for Voices Against Violence, Brian’s House, and the Pemi Bridge House. The Social Work Club’s biggest event for this year is the Senior Beach Ball on April 25 at the Plymouth Senior Center, which includes beach-themed activities and a dance for area seniors, which is free of charge. “We’re doing activities with kids, we’re doing activities with elderly,” says vice president Amy York. “I think those are our three main things besides going to conferences. “I’m really interested in doing more social justice activities,” says president Diane Leuschner, “which is difficult to plan right now because people aren’t really concerned with civil liberties and stuff like that now with the war. We were going to go to this thing next weekend in Washington, D.C. and learn how to lobby because a big part of social work is advocacy and working to empower people. We were going to take a workshop on that, but that fell through.” Another activity they are planning is a drive to collect basic supplies, like Visine, baby wipes, and other simple items for the soldiers in Iraq. While there haven’t been any yearly events, the members are looking to change that. “Everything we’re doing right now, we’re trying to do good,” Leuschner says, “so that it will become a thing we do every year. Hopefully what we do this year will be done again next year.” The club is busy with various activities now, but this was not the case in previous years. “It’s been pretty slow going for the last couple of years,” Leuschner says, “and we’re reviving it right now, this is the new regime.” “I’ve been here since last year, which was my freshman year,” Scott adds, “and last year we really didn’t do anything. This year is a lot better. We’ve come a lot more alive.” Leuschner credits former president and graduating senior Courtney Nolan with bringing the club out of its slump. “She really worked her butt off to get it going again,” she says,” because there was low attendance.” All of the members of the club are Social Work majors, but anyone from any major is welcome to join. Scott says, “I want there to be a lot of different kinds of people that can bring diversity into our club, different kinds of views, and maybe even perhaps a male point of view.” This comment sparked spontaneous laughter from the rest of the officers and Leuschner commented “Yeah, we’d like to get a male into the club, that would be awesome.” “And maybe a male into the major,” York adds with a laugh. One group of individuals who are especially wanted in the club are other Social Work majors. Leuschner comments,” We only have sixty people in the major roughly, and we have about six people in the club, and we would like to see more involvement with the major in the club. The Social Work Club’s ultimate goal is to inform the community of what social work accomplishes and what social workers do. “We want to get out what social workers really do,” Leuschner states, “because a lot of people just think a social worker is the person that runs in and takes the kid out of the house, but really social work does a lot more than that. It empowers people and fights for social justice.” Anyone interested in the field of social work who wants to become involved in the club is welcome to attend the Social Work Club’s weekly meeting in the HUB Fireplace Lounge Tuesday nights at 5:00 p.m.
Plymouth State University
Thursday, June 26, 2025