As it has been heard on the announcements recently, the Menchville Student Ambassadors are sponsoring a book drive for the CHKD Urgent Care center in Newport News. But hold on, just who are these “Student Ambassadors” that are spreading charity this holiday season? Unbeknownst to much of the student body, the Student Ambassadors are a group of dedicated Monarchs who have been an oft-unnoticed institution at Menchville High School for years.

Sophomore Kayla Egnot, president of the group, summarized the Student Ambassadors as the following, “The Menchville Student Ambassadors is a group of chosen students who are picked based off of academics and behavior in school. We help out at any occasions that the school might have, and we volunteer at different places. We recruit future Monarchs from Gildersleeve and Hines, and we’re just pretty much about living up to the Monarch expectations.”

These 14 select students work closely with their advisors, Assistant Principal Joseph Edwards and Graduation Coach Rosalyn Taylor, to work for the good of the school and the community. Members of the Student Ambassadors are hand-picked by the administrators based on such qualities as academic ambition and success, good behavior, and exemplary Monarch pride and spirit. Said Egnot on the selection, “Mr. E and Mrs. Taylor have made sure that an abundance of students have been able to join this group…but they [students who want to join] must keep their grades up and fill out their role as a Student Ambassador.”

Within the school, the Student Ambassadors’ greatest impact is seen in their service and volunteer work. Members help out with Menchville school functions- notably greeting and giving tours for new Monarchs during freshman orientation. This year’s projects include ideas to benefit both the student body and the Peninsula community. “We are orchestrating a future dance possibly, and we are doing the book drive that’s going on now,” said Egnot. “We hope to be doing a lot more in the coming years.”

The current book drive sponsored by the Student Ambassadors aims to donate reading material and coloring books to the local CHKD Urgent Care Center in Newport News’s Tech Center. New and gently-used books, as well as coloring books and supplies, are being collected until December 19^th in the festively-decorated donation box in the main office. When asked why donations were specifically focused on books, Egnot replied, “We [the Student Ambassadors] think that books have a significance in learning and vocab uses.” Older patients often miss out when toy donations to CHKD are focused on young children’s interests, but book donations provide reading material for all ages, which entertain as well as help kids learn. This book drive is just one of the many charitable and good-spirited actions of the Student Ambassadors.

This volunteer group is intensely involved with Menchville functions and service, but the majority of the student body does not really know about them. This is something that Egnot and her fellow Student Ambassadors aim to change. “I don’t think they [students] do [know about Student Ambassadors], but I wish we could be able to get our name out there because of the number of kids that are eligible to be in this group,” continued the president. “I think with the things we are planning to do, it will make us more known and hopefully students will strive harder to make an effort to be in Student Ambassadors.” Egnot encourages her fellow students to work hard in school and exemplify Monarch values so that they, too, can join Student Ambassadors and make a difference in the Peninsula community, helping this group of do-gooders to come out of the shadows at Menchville High School.