PCSC Testimonials!
Read below about the opinions of involved PCSC youth leaders and parents to understand what your child can gain as a member of PCSC!
Scroll down for alumni testimonials, or click here, for parent testimonials!
PCSC's Alumni Testimonials
Read below about the opinions of involved PCSC members to understand what your child can gain as a member of PCSC! Scroll down, or click here, for parent testimonials!
Here's what PCSC can do for you.
A video project by Heather Stoneman and Ginger Gardner.
Featuring Bridget Bentley, PCSC President 2020-'21
and many past crew leaders
Maya Guzdar, February 2020
I joined PCSC as a freshman believing it to be nothing more than an opportunity for service—an outlet for getting out of Piedmont to clean up trash at a park or chop some onions at a local soup kitchen. While I spent many hours tearfully chopping onions at soup kitchens during my time in PCSC, through my four years as a member, I came to understand that PCSC is about s0 much more than just service—PCSC teaches members how to become leaders. Today, I credit PCSC to everything I know about leadership, organization, commitment, and teamwork.
After a freshman year of attending events and shyly sitting in the corner during monthly meetings, I became the assistant to the VP of Administration. I helped create a system to get members renewed, learned how to speak up during meetings, and discovered the rewarding feeling of seeing plans put into action.
The next year, I became a youth leader for PCSC’s annual “RTO” project, in which PCSC partners with the NGO Rebuilding Together Oakland to renovate a low-income/veteran/elderly Oakland homeowner’s house. The experience was transformative—I worked for months with older students and adults to plan our two workdays. I learned how to organize groups, how to work toward a goal, and also about the power of empathy, and taking the time to learn about someone else’s life.
Through PCSC, not only did I learn leadership skills, but I made life-long friends—relationships I never would have formed otherwise. Singing carols at tree-lot, staying late gossiping after monthly meetings to eat snacks, having philosophical talks at the tops of ladders while painting at RTO; these memories are some of the best from high school.
PCSC changed my life. PCSC gave me best friends, internships, hilarious stories, mentors, a deeper understanding of the world around me, and a clearer sense of my purpose and what we can all do to make a difference.
PCSC has something for everyone. Whether you want to lead, you want to serve, find a community (or all three), I urge you to join, or just go to an event, talk to some members, and try something new.
PHS Class of 2018
2017-2018 PCSC President
Stanford University Class of 2022
Joshua Rogers, February 2020
My name is Joshua Rogers [PHS ‘18], I served as PCSC’s VP of Fundraising, VP of Program, and President during my time at Piedmont High School. I joined PCSC my Freshman year of high school after an injury that left me with a surplus of time, which I chose to spend on bettering my community. This was one of the best decisions of my high school career.
PCSC offers students an opportunity to grow and learn in a way that is unparalleled by most clubs and extracurriculars in the Bay Area. During four years in PCSC I was not only able to learn and experience, but also teach and mentor people on management, fundraising, finance, public speaking, and general leadership skills all while doing activities that I love and making a difference in my community.
Aside from the plethora of life and professional skills PCSC gave me, it also introduced me to a lot of new friends that I would never have become close to. The amazing thing that I have found about service is the amount of people it brings together. Political ideologies, social status and economic classes tend to fade away when one is working with someone who shares the same values of helping those around them.
PHS Class of 2019
2018-2019 PCSC President
Princeton University Class of 2024
PCSC's Parent Testimonials!
Read below about the opinions of involved PCSC parents to understand what your child can gain as a member of PCSC! Scroll down, or click here, for alumni testimonials!
Eric Bentley, January 2020
Piedmont Community Service Crew provides an environment and structure that fosters multiple areas of growth through direct experience. The youth leadership oriented structure allows participants to learn how to work, manage conflict and lead within a diverse peer group while giving the latitude in a safe adult-supervised environment to experience the failures and successes that are so critical to growth and learning. The students get more out of the experience as they put in more time and effort. Participants well to further develop their awareness, skills and capabilities for future applications in their lives.
father of Bridget Bentley, PHS Class of 2021
2018-2019 PCSC Co-VP Fundraising
2019-2020 PCSC VP Administration
2020 RTO Co House Captain
Keiko Hayashi, January 2020
Piedmont Community Service Crew is a priority in our son and daughter's lives. Ever since our son enrolled as a freshman crew member three years ago, his commitment to community service and leadership has catapulted and solidified in ways that we never imagined! Preparing and serving food to the underserved grew quickly into his desire to not only lead events but also take on executive leadership roles. Our daughter also got deeply involved in PCSC. Their participation has fostered social, organizational and public speaking skills which as a result has boosted their self confidence, driving them to participate even more actively. The group of friends they have made through PCSC is nothing short of positive and supportive, and together, they have accomplished so much towards contributing to our community at large!
mother of Toshi and Aya Troyer, PHS Class of 2021
Toshi: 2018 - 2019 PCSC Co-VP Fundraising
2019 - 2020 PCSC VP Parent Engagement
Aya: PCSC Videographer:
2 RTO House Project Videos
Chris Stuetz Memorial Video
Sandra Parker, February 2020
I have watched PCSC foster growth in leadership and in life skills in the members I have worked with and in my own daughter. My daughter joined as PCSC as a freshman and her work with PCSC has expanded through her high school years. Crew members learn to organize events, manage budgets and purchase and prepare food for their own groups and for external projects, all of which are student-led. PCSC members engage in construction projects and in tutoring and have a few regular events which feed the homeless. The range of opportunities and events to participate in translate into growth opportunities beyond the usual high school experience, I hope you will consider supporting your child's involvement in PCSC.
mother of Eleanor Hoffpauir, PHS Class of 2021
2018-2019 PCSC VP Accounting
2019-2020 PCSC VP Communication
2020 Website Creator & Manager (this one!!)
Jen Cavenaugh, October 2020
I have long thought of Piedmont Community Service Crew as an outstanding organization with stellar leadership. What's not to love about a group of high school students working throughout the East Bay building houses and making meals for unhoused individuals, raising funds to support their efforts, and building students' leadership skills?
What I did not fully appreciate is how much the group has to offer the parents who volunteer to support the group's efforts. My kids had been participating in various PCSC events when they shared that the group often needs adults to lend a hand. Last Fall I turned out for my first PCSC event to help with the building of PCSC's first Tiny House for a young adult in Alameda County. Literally building a house. Here in Piedmont. Who knew?
Incredibly, the group welcomed all volunteers, most with no prior construction skills. That was great because I didn't bring that many with me, other than a can-do attitude. What I've loved is that central to the program's success is for every volunteer to learn as they go and to teach others, in this case, how to read plans, use specific tools, check quality, touch-up and clean-up. For cooking programs the skills are different but the philosophy is the same. There's a role for everyone, and most of the time adults are working behind-the-scenes offering support, encouragement, and safety tips, as needed.
Besides the investment the leaders have made in taking my construction skills up a level, I have appreciated the growing friendships, camaraderie, and overall good feelings I bring home with me after a full day or a few hours working on building one small house for one deserving individual. I'm proud of the students who give their time freely for the benefit of others. Anything I can do to support their efforts is more than worth my time and effort.
PCSC Crew Committee Chair, 2020-2022
Mother of Shelby Cavenaugh, PHS Class of 2023
2021-2022 PCSC co-VP Administration