Claire Kraynak
New Castle News
NEW CASTLE —
To most high school students, history is just a subject that they need to graduate.
But to Mohawk High freshman Andrew Henley, history means helping people reconnect with their ancestry.
Henley has been volunteering at the Lawrence County Historical Society since June 2009.
“I’ve already put in around 700 hours there,” he said.
Henley first got involved with the historical society when he won the Lawrence County Trivia Competition.
“My cousins used to be in the competition. They told me that you can win money,” he said. “I was interested in both the money and the history part.”
According to the historical society’s administrator, most county schools participate in the competition.
“We give out cards with questions and answers on them,” Mooney explained. “We let the students study the questions and answers for the period of one year.”
After one year, the students participate in a competition.
Mooney said that students can participate in the competition either individually or as a team.
She said that the competition is often how the historical society finds young volunteers like Henley.
Henley put together the current Shenango China display. He also has helped redesign brochures, business cards, and programs for the society’s annual banquet.
“There’s nothing he can’t do,” Mooney said.
Henley spends much of his free time at the historical society.
“I’m there every Saturday during school, and I try to make it every day during the summer,” he said.
Mooney concurred.
“He’s there three to four hours a day during the summer,” she said. “We asked his family if they could have him homeschooled, so we could have him there all the time,” Mooney joked.
Henley said he enjoys volunteering there, because he’s learned a lot about his family history.
Currently, Henley is hoping to help with a new project.
“We were thinking about doing something on immigration,” he said. “We’d like to document all the immigration records for the area.”
Henley said that he wanted to make it easier for people to access their family history, and a display of immigration records could really help.
“He knows so much about researching genealogy,” Mooney said.
Henley said he’s tried to get some of his friends to volunteer at the historical society, but they didn’t enjoy it as much as he does.
Henley is on his high school’s basketball, cross country and track teams. He also participates in Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) club and the Spanish club.
Henley said he’s beginning to look at colleges, and he’s planning on majoring in history.
“He’s very focused,” Mooney said. “He’s a good kid. He’s one of those people you wait your whole career to teach.”
