One group, Chi Alpha Omega, an extracurricular club, has made a weekly activity of getting out into the community and performing service.

        “This is a very unique group, and they see in practice what we teach at the school,” said Norah Mock, development associate at the school. “St. Ursula makes a point of encouraging and tries to provide opportunities for community service.”

        The Chi Alpha Omega club is made up of seventh- and eighth-graders. It started 10 years ago. The club is under the guidance of teachers Jill Moormann and Betsy Caudill.

        According to Ms. Mock, Chi Alpha Omega means Christ Beginning and End.

        Monica Bayles, 13, of Hyde Park, sees the value in community service. She is part of the group that visits the Madisonville Day Care Center.

        “We get a chance to play games with the kids and socially interact with them,” she said. “I like it because it gives us a chance to get into the community to see classroom work in action.”

        Claire Racine, 14, of Anderson Township, now a ninth-grader who has been involved with the group, said it has been fun and educational doing community service.

        “We meet once a week, mostly during lunch hour or after school,” she said. “Going to the Madisonville Day Care Center was a real treat. We made sandwiches and played games.”

        Ms. Moormann said the club is run by students.

        “They do the planning, the promotion and the actual service for all these projects. Some service projects, like the Madisonville Day Care Center, are so popular with the students we can't always accommodate everyone who would like to participate.”

        The community service has become so popular that 84 percent of junior high students complete more than the 20 hours required, said Ms. Mock.

        “We had 12 students who performed 50 to 100 hours of volunteer work in the community,” she said.

        At 9 a.m. July 28, gates will open at Edgewater Sports Park in Cleves to begin the third annual Masons Helping Kids/Children's Hospital Junior Dragster Open.

        It is sponsored by Kids Racing for Kids, a volunteer group of parents and sponsors. The junior drag-racing event started in 1993 and is sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association. Girls and boys, 8 to 17, compete in one-half-scale dragsters.

        More than 4,000 families in the United States and Canada are competing regularly. Parents and siblings of drivers work together as pit crews.

        “The rules are set by the Junior Drag Racing League, and the race is run under specific safety rules,” said Marty Schadler, a volunteer with Kids Racing for Kids.

        Funds raised go to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. For information, call 859-341-2901.

        Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Sunday-Friday. If you have suggestions about achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, e-mail ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.

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