Teaching our Children Service
During the holidays, there seems to be an abundance of opportunities to serve our community. Whether they are from donation of gifts to feeding the homeless, there does not seem to be a lack of ways to serve, alone or with your children. But now that the holidays are over and the reality of “regular” life is upon us, how do we continue to teach our children ways to serve so that we raise a generation of children that know how to serve effectively? There are so many blogs, articles and various resources that try to touch upon this topic. So where do we start? One of the easiest ways to begin teaching our children is to remember that service begins at home. Whether you have a toddler or a high school student, one of the easiest ways to teach them service is to have them serve their family, the very people that they see on a regular basis. This may come in the form of chores, making dinner or simply going out of their way to help a family member in need.
One way that we as a school, teach our mission of “serving effectively” is by our annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day service project. A half day dedicated to helping one another as well as the community. Each campus designated projects that were simple and age appropriate so that they could serve just their local community. This year, the lower campus participated in packing school kit bags for the MCC Material Resource Center. The students also made cards for the father of a preschool student who was deployed to Afghanistan. They also made Valentines for Vets and performed an act of service for another class. The lower campus also spent some time learning about Martin Luther King Jr. The upper campus participated in various service projects as well. The middle school participated by making dog toys for a local animal shelter, making blankets for children and packing packs for a homeless shelter as well as writing encouragement letters to send to our soldiers overseas. A small group of upper school students went to Worthwhile Wear, a local thrift store to help sort, price and stock items for their store. The remaining upper school students went to Jarrettown United Methodist Church to pack over 18,000 meals for “Rise against Hunger.”
