Severn News

Middle School Unites for a Day of Community and Service

11/11/2016

The halls buzzed with Severn pride and excitement during Middle School Community Service Day, an essential part of our Week of Thanks and Giving, November 7–11. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders spent the afternoon together to explore questions like “What is service?” and “What does it mean to serve others?” Through weeks of planning, our Middle School faculty structured the day so students would develop an understanding of service and community building before committing to the process. From thinking and talking about service, to crafting homemade blankets for families at Sarah’s House, Severn middle schoolers made the connection between our values as a community and helping others in need.

What is Service?

For the first part of the day, the entire middle school met to discuss the meaning of community service. Middle School Head, Dan Keller, discussed "service" as part of our school mission.

Severn School challenges its students to pursue excellence in character, conduct, and scholarship, to marshal the courage to lead, and to develop the lasting desire to serve and achieve. We believe this is best realized in a community where adults model these qualities and where each student is known and valued.

Seventh grade English teacher, Daryl Walsh, quoted Mahatma Ghandi, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” and asked students to think about how those words relate to community service. Daniel Babalola ‘21 shared with the group, “Who you are is made of the experiences behind you. By putting yourself in the service of others, you can experience raw emotion and that emotion defines you.”

Daniel Babalola, '21

How Can We Help?

Thoughtful discussion continued as students broke off into advisory groups for rotating chat sessions. Each group discussed questions about who we are as members of the Severn community and how we can extend those values beyond our school walls.

How could your understanding of “being part of a larger community” change as a result of participating in a service project?
What are the reasons you think we should serve the greater community outside Severn?
How could your different values (what you believe is important) be expressed through your community work?
How might our middle school community be positively impacted by serving others? How might you individually be impacted by serving others?

The Middle School joined together again for special guest speaker, Mr. Bruce Clopein from Sarah’s House, a supportive housing program offering emergency and transitional housing with an array of other services for homeless families in Anne Arundel County. Mr. Clopein shared hopeful stories of the families that Sarah’s House serves and the harsh realities that these families face as they work toward making positive changes in their lives.

Tying It All Together

Throughout the day, the students reflected on their personal ideas about service. They talked to one another to deepen their thinking and hear the perspectives of their peers. They listened with compassion to the struggles of families in need. When it came time for the physical service portion of the day, hand-tying blankets for the children of Sarah’s house, they understood the meaning of their work and felt the impact of doing it together.

Lana Cate ‘22, hands busy tying the last sections of her group’s blanket together said, “I learned a lot about service today and how it might feel to be in need of others. And how gratifying it is to do stuff like this with our friends.”