As PKS teachers, we are always seeking new ways to practice our Habits of Character (respectful, responsible, resilient, collaborative, globally minded, caring and reflective) and bring them to life for our students within and beyond our school community. My own journey took an unexpected turn this past August as a result of an amazing and transformative professional development experience.
Before the school year started, faculty and staff spent a day volunteering in different service learning programs in the city and I was assigned to St. Anthony’s, an organization that provides essential support to San Franciscans living in poverty. I volunteered in their clothing donation program, where I organized donated clothes and helped people pick out the outfits they needed. I didn’t think too much about it until a few weeks later.
A couple of weeks after volunteering, I ran into a person I had helped at St. Anthony’s on the street; they recognized me and smiled at me. That was a moment I will never forget – that smile filled my heart with warmth and happiness for the entire day. After volunteering, I realized how easy it had been for me to dismiss those in need based on a perceived distance between our lives. We all have our own stories, and everyone deserves to be met with an open mind and heart. This volunteering experience also allowed me to see how much of a difference I can make in my community, even as an individual.
We just started the Our City: Citizenship unit in 2nd grade, and this year we really want to focus on what it means to be a contributing citizen, and how everyone can make a positive impact. As part of this unit, the teaching team decided to celebrate the November and December birthdays in our class by organizing a service event for our community. We have shared the entire thinking and planning process with our students, with the hope that this service event will engage them in deeper thinking about the responsibilities we all carry as citizens, and that the process would inspire them in their own projects later on in the unit. With these goals in mind, we contacted St Anthony’s via the PKS service learning committee and launched the clothing donation drive that we recently announced in ITK. The event will last till 12/19, and we ask the PKS community to drop off gently used clothes in the front office and to discuss the responsibilities of being a citizen with their children.
As part of our unit, students will have the opportunity to interview volunteers, community leaders, and elected officials. We hope that by hearing stories about how different people help out in their community, and seeing their teachers and the entire PKS community come together to help those less fortunate through the St. Anthony’s clothing drive, our students will feel empowered to think about community needs and take action to bring about positive change.