By Dee Grenert Editor
CULVER — A pointed observation grabbed Jodie Davenport’s attention nearly two years ago.
Davenport, a Culver Academies student, attended a leadership conference at St. Mary’s College in South Bend with Culver Community High School student Tixe Weirick, during the summer of 2005.
The two teenagers told a group about the sometimes-contentious relationship between the Culver schools.
“Somebody said, ‘it sounds like you have a broken community,’” Davenport, a senior from Rochester, recalled. “I had a knee-jerk reaction. It was really hurtful to some degree. The stress of that created something good, though.”
That something good is the Culver Youth Community Organization (CYCO).

CYCO, as its members affectionately and proudly refer to the new group, combines the talents of Culver Community and Culver Academies students in community service projects.
CYCO kicked off by adopting a local needy family last Christmas and raising more than $500. The group then shopped for each of the large family’s children and Culver Community juniors Ashley Jones and Lyndsey Fisher delivered the gifts.
More recently, the service group organized and ran games at Culver Elementary School’s fun fair benefit for Brendan Walters, a second grader battling against lymphoma. The group hopes to complete one more project before summer break.
“Our goal is to build bridges of communication between youths in the community,” Davenport, who joined CYCO with Weirick, said. “I’ve loved it. People think it’s so strange. They say, ‘Wow. There’s no fistfights breaking out.’ One of the best things is an example is being set.”
Culver Community senior Kevin Schuldt and freshman Sarah Bailey agreed.
“Working with the Academy kids definitely brings a different perspective,” he said. “It’s nice to work together. We’re breaking down the Lake Shore Drive wall.”
“We broke some of the stereotypes of both sides,” Bailey added. “I’m glad I’m helping people.”
Colin Lasko, a Culver Academies junior, enlisted at Davenport’s invitation. A Culver resident, he already knew Fisher and Jones from a Habitat for Humanity trip to Mexico. Even so, he admitted a little unease at first.
“I was more than willing to help out,” he said. “I was a little shy during the first meeting. I wasn’t sure how everybody was going to react, but it went well. Without a doubt I’ll be joining next year.”
Myles Pinder, Christina Klausing and Nate Niswander also represent Culver Community, while Tucker Anderson, Jen Putman, Daniel Ching, Anna Rich and John Lewis join Davenport and Lasko from the Academies.
Two adults from each school – guidance counselor Brenda Sheldon and drama director Cindy Riester, both from Culver Community, and the Academies’ Center for Leadership’s Nancy McKinnis, and Emily Ryman, senior admissions counselor at Culver Summer Camps, all of whom are friends — supervise the group.
“I actually work for both schools because I work at the summer camps,” Riester said. “I understand the foundation of both schools. I was extremely interested in jelling the two schools together. Both are strong communities. To put the two together could only be better for the whole community.”
According to McKinnis, she and Sheldon both want the interaction between the schools for their school age children and themselves.
“Brenda and I both had the same vision,” McKinnis said. “We wanted it for our own kids. We wanted it for ourselves. We’re part of that group in Culver that walks that divide.”
Although Ryman grew up elsewhere, her Culver roots run deep. Her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all lived in Culver and her mother graduated from Culver High School.
“That group that walks the divide is much bigger than anybody realizes,” Ryman said. “My family’s ‘00-plus years is walking that path. The Academy and community are connected. Why do you draw a line?”
With CYCO’s creation, the group walking the divide appears primed for growth.