It has been an incredible year of Service Learning at OES! In so many various ways, the students have shown a commitment to engage deeply in issues where they feel something is not right, and then a resolve to put their hands to work for the good of our school and community.
To demonstrate our work, here is a summary of Mount Hood Climb Service Day, by the numbers:
- Project Second Wind, our school-wide food drive led by Ms. Duden’s class, collected 1,895 lbs of food for the Neighborhood House Food Box to help address food insecurity in our city.
- The Second Annual Art Fair raised $1,088.24 to benefit Refugee Care Collective, and 5th graders in Ms. Busick’s class led 125 students through their Refugee Experience to give them a chance to step inside the journey of a refugee fleeing persecution.
- Ms. Akehurst’s 5th graders handed out 168 new books to preschool students at Woodburn Family Learning Center during their student-led literacy fair, after raising awareness in the Lower School about the need for more diverse children’s literature.
- Fourth Graders headed to Acadia Beach to address the issue of trash–especially plastics–in the world’s oceans, collecting 859 micro-plastics pieces, 22 food wrappers, 72 plastic bottle caps, and 172 foam or other packing materials, among many more trash pieces.
- Third Graders embodied 50 hidden stories of Oregon’s past, sharing these hidden histories with countless visitors.
- Second Graders repackaged 3,642 pounds of frozen carrots at the Oregon Food Bank, enough to provide 3,035 meals. Each volunteer helped to provide 41 meals.
- First Graders created 7 bird houses for our winged wetlands community, plus 4 bat boxes for those nocturnal creatures. They also spread countless mindful messages through beautiful, simple signs posted all around campus.
- Primary students provided service to the OES woods by pulling piles and piles of vines of invasive ivy.
- Kindergarteners created 4 imaginative play benchesplus2 mobile potions gardensas gifts to their Beginning Years peers. Ms. Deborah’s class pulled grasses and put down mulch to care for 18 blueberry bushesat Magness Memorial Tree Farm.
- Pre-K students created over 30 adorable rock creatures to be sold at the Art Fair, which brought in over $40 in proceeds that went to Refugee Care Collective.
- 20 students and parents participated in an OES book-cleaning session at Children’s Book Bank in the week leading up to Mount Hood Climb Service Day.
Wow! These numbers are all impressive! But even more impressive was the way each student embraced their project and the learning behind it, and contributed their full selves to their service. They grew in the conviction that, no matter who you are or how old you are, you can leave your fingerprints on someone’s heart through service. In the reflective words of one fifth grader: “My takeaway from all of this is that no matter how small or big, or how important or unimportant, or how rich or poor you are, you can always, always, always make a difference.”
Thank you for this incredible year!–Kristen
As a note, we will be transferring this blog to a different platform over the summer, so please watch for the re-enroll notice in the fall. Thank you!
OES Lower School Service Learning 