<h3>By Kat Walsh and Andres Rivero-Martinez</h3>
On Tuesday, January 30, the Young Leaders of Beaufort visited the residents of Bayview Manor, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in Beaufort. Andres Rivero-Martinez, a student at Bolden Middle School and member of the Young Leaders, wrote the following summary of the group’s visit:

“We met the most wonderful people, who also happen to live at Bayview Manor, and experienced what kindness and creativity really feels like. The residents told us about their daily lives at as well as what they did in their lives prior to Bayview. Some of them experience speech and physical disabilities, so the Young Leaders of Beaufort helped them in any way we could. We assisted them by pushing their wheelchairs and even helped them paint pictures … amazing masterpieces that will soon be hung on the walls of Bayview Manor. An artist in residence helped prepare the canvases for us and assisted during the painting class. After enjoying lunch with the residents we played Bingo before leaving for the day. The admissions director, Mrs. Susie Siegel, mentioned that anyone of us would be welcome to return as a volunteer. We’d like to thank Ms. Weezy Alcott, the artist in residence, as well as Julia Sanford for guiding us through the activity and Agape Hospice for donating all the art supplies to make this great activity happen.&nbsp; Our visit to Bayview Manor was awesome.”

The Young Leaders of Beaufort is a program designed to foster community and civic leadership in middle school students from Beaufort Academy, Lady’s Island Middle, Beaufort Middle, Whale Branch, Robert Smalls International Academy, Bridges, Riverview, Bolden, and Lowcountry Montessori. Working together, students develop problem-solving skills as they experience the different facets of Beaufort’s judicial system, parks, municipal government, and military presence.&nbsp; The goal is to foster civic leadership by helping students understand the government entities that manage our community.

The group’s next field trip will be on February 28th to the Reconstruction Era Monument.

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