Eastbayri.com

EAST BAY — It didn’t look like your typical class at Barrington Christian Academy (BCA) one warn afternoon last week.

Toting shovels, rakes and a wheelbarrow, about 20 students were hard at work spreading mulch on the school playground. Chris Beard’s eighth-grade Bible class, in fact, spend one period every week doing some form of community service.

They don’t limit themselves to within the confines of the school campus, either. They read to kindergarten students at the Waddington School, wash windows and clean at local churches, help neighbors with yard work, meet with senior citizens at Atria Bay Spring Village and do many other tasks.

Their benevolence is only fitting, as their inspiration comes from a Bible passage (Matthew 22:37-39): “Love the Lord and love neighbor as self.”

“There’s a widow who lives right here,” said Miss. Beard, pointing to a home behind the playground, where students did some yard work. “She made us lemonade and cookies. She was so happy and we just raked a couple of bags of leaves. It’s always surprising to them that people are so appreciative. They’ll say, ‘We really didn’t do that much.’”

And that’s the point: A little kindness can go a long way.

“I think they’re seeing that other people have needs that they can meet, even as eighth-graders,” said Miss Beard.

Like public schools, nearly all private schools have some sort of community service requirement for their students.

“We’ve had an emphasis on service for a while; we consider that one of our core values,” said Elsie R. Wright, head of school at BCA. She said every classroom performs at least one project during the school year, while those in high school start focusing on missions as well.

“Sophomores and juniors do an annual trip to Mendenhall, Miss., which is a poor rural community. This has been five years that we’ve gone there for a week of service,” said Ms. Wright, adding that community service is a required component in senior projects. “One of them went to the Dominican Republic last year and served.”

St. Andrew’s School, also in Barrington, has a robust community service program in which students are required to commit more hours each year: 10 hours for freshman, 20 for sophomores, 30 for juniors and 40 for seniors. But that’s just the bare minimum; most students far exceed the requirement.

“Last year the students were required to contribute 3,920 hours. They actually contributed 8,152 hours,” said Lisa Goniprow, community services coordinator for the school.

Contributions range from serving on campus by giving tours, stuffing envelopes and ushering at school productions; serving the greater local area by volunteering at Miriam Hospital and the Providence Children’s Museum, Tap-In, Trinity Repertory Theatre, International Coastal Cleanup and the Providence Soup Kitchen; and serving beyond, such as at an orphanage in Korea (St. Andrew’s has a good number of international students).

‘Gold’ standard

Three years ago the school initiated the “Gold Club” for students who contribute 100 hours of community service in one year. “The first year we had about 10 students (in the club). Last year we had 23,” she said, adding that one student contributed a total of 471 hours.

For the past four years St. Andrew’s has also focused on an annual charity selected by the senior class. All of the upper school takes part in the fund-raising, said Eric Hill, director of student life. So far, the school has raised money for Doctors Without Borders, The International Institute of R.I. and The Tomorrow Fund. Seniors, who have heard pitches from various organizations, were expected to select this year’s beneficiary this week.

“Just today, the seniors listened to the director of Edesia, a company out of Providence that makes protein nutrition bars for famine-ravaged regions of Africa,” said Mr. Hill. “We’ve raised between $3,000 to $5,000 every year, but we’d like to amplify this by getting the kids out to be actively engaged in the community.”

Raising fish in class

One of the more unique community service projects in our area has a decidedly environmental bent. Students at Our Lady of Fatima High School in Warren take part in a “Salmon in the Classroom” program in conjunction with the R.I. Department of Environmental Management.

Seniors in the marine biology class receive about 200 eggs from a federal hatchery and care for them as they hatch out and develop through the alvin stage. Students track the development of the fish through daily observations and temperature readings. Once the fish approach the fry stage, they’re released into the Pawcatuck River as part of The R.I. Salmon Restoration Program.

“We grow the salmon and once they grow past a certain stage, we dump it in the river. We’ve been doing that for the past 10 years,” said Joseph Hozempa, director of advancement at Fatima.

Senior projects at Fatima all include a minimum of 20 hours of community service, in addition to the other requirements. “In addition, every student does a minimum of 20 hours of community service and to be eligible for the National Honor Society, they have to do 25,” said Mr. Hozempa.

Fatima students have also donated time to the Audubon’s Environmental Education Center in Bristol, the Rogers Williams University marine biology program and The Corliss Institute in Warren, a nonprofit that helps deaf adults become integrated members of society.

Helping the less fortunate

The major focus of community service at St. Margaret School in Rumford is to help our less-fortunate citizens.

“We do a project for Breadlines, an organization that feeds the needy. Our kids make sandwiches, donate clothes and we sell T-shirts,” said Principal John Rezendes. All proceeds from the sale of T-shirts go to Breadlines. “Students hear also visit nursing homes, write letters to shut-ins and veterans.”

The school’s December project is to collect items for the Little Flower Home in Tiverton, which provides housing for unwed mothers.

“We do a lot of work collecting baby clothes, diapers — things like that — for moms who may find themselves in a situation where they don’t have the support that they need,” said Mr. Rezendes.

A day of service

All students at The Providence Country Day School in East Providence must complete a minimum of 45 hours of service prior to the beginning of their senior year.

But that’s “just the tip of the iceberg,” said Nellie Walcoff, the school’s director of communications.

“A few years ago we launched an all-school Service Day, held the day before winter break,” she said. “All the faculty and staff from grades 6 to 12 participated. We sent about 300 people out into the Greater Providence, East Bay, West Bay area to do service projects throughout the day. We probably showed up at over 20 agencies throughout the area.”

One group of students delivered a donated cord of wood to a family that relied on wood heat. “They stacked the wood and the family didn’t even know they were going to get it,” she said.

Other students refurbished and donated a car to a family whose parents had trouble getting to work because they had no means of transportation, she said. Other projects included baking bread for a shelter and cleaning up a Pawtucket YMCA so it could be used for after-school care. Younger students who weren’t allowed at the outside facilities made fleece blankets and lunches for a shelter.

“They’re always amazed by the reaction from someone after doing something that’s seemingly so small,” said Ms. Walcoff, adding that students who combined their efforts were able to accomplish something on a bigger scale.

Helping in Peru, too

The school is committed to service abroad as well. “This past summer we had a group who went to Peru for two weeks as part of a service project. It was not a vacation,” said Ms. Walcoff.

Students stayed with families while helping children and orphans with their daily activities and learning. They will also assisted in the construction of a daycare facility.

While they “didn’t change the world,” students got a better understanding of how the Peruvian people “were exactly like them, only poor,” she said.

Students who take part in any community service project are always “amazed by how appreciated they are,” said Ms. Walcoff. “They actually feel the impact of their efforts, which inclines them to do more,” she said.

Perhaps that’s why the kids at BCA were digging into the mulch with such glee last week. Thirteen-year-old Will LaFrance, who wants to attend West Point some day, says he loves “helping the community” and is up for anything when it comes to volunteer work.

“It’s their favorite class of the week,” Miss Beard said watching her students work in the playground. “They say, ‘I can’t wait!’ It’s funny watching them fighting over doing the work.”