2022 Eighth Grade Community Service
By Susan Cody, Social Inclusion Teacher

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. (Mother Theresa)

The eighth graders recently completed the community service component of their Social Inclusion class with Susan Cody. During the cold winter months, the eighth grade made sandwiches during their Social Inclusion class for a meal program that serves those who are unhoused or facing food insecurity.  The directors of the program report that the sandwiches have been greatly appreciated!

This community service project was designed to give the students an opportunity to do something of value in the wider community, to offer support to people in need and to breakdown stereotypes and build empathy. Each week the sandwiches that they made became part of the offerings of the meal program at Christ Church in Cambridge, one of the churches that participates in the Harvard Square Churches Meal Program, whose mission is to provide a nutritious meal in a hospitable environment to anyone who needs it. The Christ Church location provides a hot and healthy meal every Thursday evening, along with some extra food and our sandwiches to take with them as they leave.  During the last two years of Covid, all the meals were served outside by staff members, so they weren’t bringing in outside volunteers, but WSL eighth graders have once again been invited to come to the church this spring when the meal program will begin preparing and serving in the church hall once again. During this community service trip, the students will be asked to do everything from food prep and table setting to serving the three-course meal to the guests and cleaning up afterwards.

We would like to thank Laurie Howell and Judy Siemen, co-directors of the Christ Church Meal Program, for including us in their program. A very special thank you also goes out to Wegmans in Burlington for their generous donation to this effort; they awarded us with a $400.00 grant for our supplies, for which we are incredibly grateful.

During their service block, students also participated in a virtual presentation with people from the Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau, a program that is part of the National Coalition for the Homeless and was brought to us through the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance in Boston. The Speakers’ Bureau is comprised of people who are or have been homeless and it works to educate the public about homelessness and what is being done to help those impacted. Everyone has a story, and our visitors shared their stories with the eighth grade. The facilitator from MHSA shared information about homelessness and how Massachusetts addresses the issue. She also worked to dispel stereotypes about people who become unhoused, and she shared some of the many reasons an individual or a family may lose their home or struggle to afford a place to live.  The students had some very thoughtful and insightful questions for the presenters at the end of the presentation.

Wherever you are is the entry point. Jump in…and let your good deeds ripple out. (Anonymous)