The Scaffold
Stories.

When the pandemic shut down her San Diego community, Rhiannon Menn felt helpless. People needed food, and familiar ways of volunteering had disappeared.

She knew how to cook.

In its September 2021 profile, Points of Light describes how she began offering homemade meals through Facebook groups. Lasagna Love grew into a network connecting volunteer cooks with nearby families.

One detail stayed with me: volunteers could bring their own comfort food to the effort. There was room for different kitchens, recipes and ways of caring.

As a teacher, I think about the question underneath that beginning: what do I already know how to do that someone else might need?

That feels more approachable than deciding where we belong for the rest of our lives.

A meal cannot repair every difficulty a family faces. The need can continue after the dish is empty. Still, someone has been fed, and someone has found a useful way to participate.

For anyone unsure where their contribution fits, that seems like a place worth exploring.

A beetle unknown to science turned up in a park inside the Washington, D.C. beltway.

The National Park Service's 2020 account traces part of that discovery to Jerry Taylor, a volunteer sorting insect specimens at the Bug Lab in Virginia.

The work involved microscopes, tiny labels and hundreds of samples. Volunteers received training. Park staff collected specimens, volunteers sorted them, and specialists investigated further.

Taylor's sorting helped uncover the soldier beetle Cantharis sheraldi.

I would use this story to ask a learner: which part of a shared investigation could you learn to do carefully?

It leaves room for someone who is interested but does not yet know enough to work alone. Training, equipment and other people's expertise make participation possible.

Of course, careful work does not promise a discovery. Questions will remain, and some answers will need someone else's knowledge.

That is a useful picture of contribution: learning a part of the work, doing it responsibly, and letting others help carry it further.

Rolando Mendoza was learning construction. A community fashion fundraiser gave him another way to contribute.

He had entered YouthBuild in Brownsville, Texas, carrying a family loss and personal challenges that made it difficult to stay focused.

YouthBuild's account describes gradual progress. He studied for his GED, trained in construction, and developed teamwork skills.

At the fundraiser, Rolando designed a look, modeled it, and encouraged other students to participate even when they felt hesitant. He helped make their growth visible while continuing his own.

As a teacher, I would pause there.

We can become so focused on preparing someone for a future role that we overlook what they can contribute while they are still learning.

Rolando completed the program with his GED and construction credentials. The account does not tell us everything that followed, and I would leave that future open rather than turn it into a promise.

What it does show is a young person receiving support and finding ways to support others.

Perhaps participation can begin before certainty arrives.