Nearly 300 students from Southwestern College helped with the setup of the Winfield Isle of Lights, which will officially open to the public on Sunday, Nov. 15.

SC students Jackson Davis and Chloe Patterson spent the semester planning and organizing the Isle of Lights work day for Southwestern College through the second-year Leadership team’s service learning efforts. 

The SC teams and organizations that participated were: Volleyball, baseball, football, cheer/dance, flag football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, tennis, honors, performing arts, service learning teams (Discipleship, Leadership) and softball.  

According to Davis, 285 students worked an average of two hours each, coming out to 570 total hours.  He says this is equivalent to $18,365 according to the independent sector.

“I think Isle of Lights is an amazing service-learning project, and I am grateful to have gotten to do it,” Patterson says.  “SC Leadership has given me this opportunity to understand the planning that goes into this massive community project. I think what stood out most for me on the day of Isle of Lights was just how much got done and all the hard work every team put into it. While the individual may feel like the work they did was small, seeing the end result from the side that I was on showed me so much got done for our community.”

Davis says he noticed the impact more than anything. 

“Throughout working on this project, I noticed how the teams and organization here at Southwestern College are tightly bound,” Davis says.  “They took this opportunity to give back to the community while also staying upbeat and using it for team bonding. Overall, the workday impacted the college students and community as a whole.”

The free, drive-through holiday light display is a favorite community tradition, and will be open nightly, from 6 to 10 p.m., until Dec. 30.