Service Week 2016
Source/Author: Diego Duran-Medina, Director of Service Learning
April 01, 2016
Shorecrest's Upper School Service Week was March 14-17, 2016, and although it is an Upper School event, we are all part of Service Week! Teachers and Staff across our four schools help prepare our students to serve and to learn, encouraging our mission of helping students develop social responsibility.
For the seventh consecutive year, Shorecrest sent more than 300 Upper School students and 40 faculty and staff members across Tampa Bay, the country and the world to perform Service Learning projects as a part of the school’s annual Service Week. The 4-day learning experience has students immersing themselves in service projects with non-profits and educational institutions. Every single member of the Upper School student body participated in Service Week. And they aren't just counting sevice hours, they are making every single service hour count!
Students have the opportunity to lead and organize Service Projects on their own, with guidance from faculty and administration. This year, senior Brian S lead a project with the Veterans Administration. Jacob N, also Class of 2016, partnered with St. Pete’s Free Food Clinic on "Cook and Serve", where students learn basic cooking techniques and then apply those skills in serving meals to others.
Other local projects included work with Southeastern Guide Dogs, Food Pantries, Habitat for Humanity Pinellas County, Melrose Elementary School and Westminster Palms retirement community, where students will help to build affordable homes, beautify local schools and teach older residents how to use technology to stay involved and connected.
Some students took trips across the U.S. including a trip to National Forests in Tennessee and North Carolina, and another to Charleston, South Carolina, where they helped clean up and restore historically significant sections of the city.
Internationally, a group visited Cuba to explore environmental conservation on reefs. Other groups helped communities in the Peruvian mountains and distributed shoes gathered from a school-wide shoe drive to children in Costa Rica.
The feedback from the 23 programs indicated that our students and staff were engaged, thoughtful and reflective in their service. Our students finished a mural in a public elementary school; prepared hundreds of meals for the hungry and helped beautify our county and country. Our international trips learned about Cuban, Costa Rican and Peruvian culture while serving communities abroad. By the time the week was over, students completed over 5,000 hours of service.
Soon, we will be introducing guidelines for next year's Service Week, hoping to move towards a more student-centered approach. If you know of any local partners or would like to help during Service Week 2017, please contact Diego Duran-Medina, Director of Service-Learning, at [email protected].
Service Week is one of the ways in which we teach citizenship and social responsibility, and we thank you for your support in going beyond counting hours to making every hour count. At Shorecrest, the world truly is our (service) classroom!
Service Week is one of the ways in which we teach citizenship and social responsibility, and we thank you for your support in going beyond counting hours to making every hour count. At Shorecrest, the world truly is our (service) classroom!
