Education is more than what happens in the classroom, and every day students in our schools are reaching beyond the classroom to help other people.
This is the 10th anniversary of the core values of Chesterfield County Public Schools and living those values means looking beyond yourself to see how you can be of service.
Question
Sometimes, students are helping other students in Chesterfield schools.
For many years, our high school students have returned to middle schools and elementary schools to mentor or tutor younger students. And we have several examples of middle school students going back to their elementary schools to serve as reading buddies for elementary students.
In the past few years, we’ve seen some of our schools “adopt” other Chesterfield schools that might need extra support. For example, art students from Cosby High provided a lot of art supplies for one of our elementary schools. And several of our schools have reached out to other Chesterfield schools to provide books or warm clothing or holiday food baskets on an ongoing basis.
Question
Other community service efforts are more global. For example, students at many Chesterfield schools support U.S. military men and women by collecting helpful items for them or by writing letters.
Yes. Students bring in books and snacks, video games and blankets, and much more to send to military personnel who are stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan or somewhere else overseas.
Sometimes, the schools don’t know exactly who will receive the items, but sometimes the schools have a specific soldier they know about through a student or a staff member, and they send things to his or her unit.
For example, Woolridge Elementary just recently collected items to send to Peter Fritz, who has been deployed overseas. This was a personal connection for Woolridge because he was one of the first students to attend Woolridge and some of his teachers are still teaching there today. Woolridge Elementary’s mascot is the Wildcats, so the school said this outreach was “from one Wildcat to another.”
Question
I believe that many schools are helping raise money and personal items to help Haiti.
This is such a good example of how Chesterfield students are part of a larger world. Our students reacted quickly to the terrible earthquake that devastated Haiti earlier this year. They have been holding coin drives and other fund-raisers help the survivors in Haiti. Several of our schools have held Hats for Haiti days – students and staff members make a contribution of a dollar or more for the privilege of wearing a hat during school and the money goes to help Haiti.
Another time that Chesterfield schools quickly reacted to a major disaster was just a few years ago when our students did the same types of things to help Hurricane Katrina survivors in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Question
How does community service prepare Chesterfield students for their futures?
By encouraging our students to engage in strong community service, we are preparing them to become good citizens. This will enable them to be empathetic to others and help them create a strong community foundation for themselves and others around them. Being a good and caring individual is the basis of democracy in our country.
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