The sophomore class service day debuted again this year with changes from the past. The general theme of volunteering was kept while the format around it was altered.

This year’s service day started on Wednesday night, Feb. 18 with a dinner for students. At the dinner, Grace Kingatua a volunteer from Give Us Wings spoke with the sophomores. This organization is nonprofit and based in Kenya and Uganda where they work on medical and educational needs in the area. The speaker herself lives in Kenya and told the stories of some of the 25 children she cares for there.

That evening the sophomores also got the opportunity to choose which service sight they would work at the next day. The sights offered included Feed My Starving Children, Neighborhood House, Bridging Inc., Second Harvest, and the Tubman Family Alliance. The students chose in order of a lottery of advisories.

            Thursday Feb.19, the sophomores met at school and broke off into their groups for the service sites. In past years public transportation was used for at least one group but this year for conveniences sake, charter buses took the students and teachers to each different site where St. Paul Academy and Summit School parent volunteers met the groups. In the afternoon, sophomores returned to school for two different breakout sessions. In one session students were able to reflect on the experiences they had that morning volunteering while in the other students participated in a simulation run by SPA faculty that allowed students to budget a family with minimal income, this emphasized the importance of volunteering especially in such a difficult economic time.

            Sophomores Hannah Lodge and Kaia Wahmanholm worked at the Tubman Family Alliance. Lodge explained that at the center they played with children whose families have sought help for domestic violence from the organization. Wahmanholm said her favorite part was “learning the different stories of the kids because [she] works at a nursery at [her] church and the kids there generally come from better family situations so comparing how they played was really interesting.”

            Many of the service sights however did not involve working with people. Sophomore Alexander Hassan volunteered at Second Harvest where he labeled cereal boxes for shipping. “The machinery was loud but I liked working together with other people,” Hassan said. He also thought “it was interesting seeing how different people reacted when they were put into situations without much money (during the simulation).” Hassan already volunteers at Feed My Starving Children on his own time and participates in volunteer opportunities his Mosque provides through the Islamic Center. “I think its really good to raise awareness in this community” Hassan concluded .

            The day ended with Upper School English teacher Haseena Hamzawala speaking about her own service work and what it means to her as well as US Counselor Adam Grudnt leading an activity that allowed students and teachers to recognize each other on a personal note for the work they did earlier in the day.

            Although the retreat has consistently changed over the years, the goal has always been too “plant the seed of service to others,” Sophomore Class Advisor Pam Starkey said. She continued to explain that “as they [sophomores] become more independent like getting their drivers licenses, these [volunteer opportunities] might be things they want to start doing and there is a great need for service right now” Starkey concluded. She also discussed the opportunity service provides for getting to know the community on another level.