From our friends at Providence Day School:
Hi Smarties! Thanks for being interested in Providence Day School. We know you can find your way around the web to get information that’s important to your family (you’re on CharlotteSmartyPants, after all!). If you are considering schools, we hope you’ve visited our site at ProvidenceDay.org and gotten a feel for what we’re all about – passion for learning, personal integrity, and social responsibility. Here’s a more personal look at one aspect of our community.
Social Responsibility Begins at Home
by Danielle S. Ferguson
Director of Multicultural Affairs and Social Responsibility
Growing up, there was a phrase that I often heard. “To whom much is given, much is required.” These words were the motto for my middle school, and a constant reminder from my parents. It meant that my sisters and I donated used clothing to shelters, served food to the hungry and homeless, sang and played games with seniors, tutored younger students, and generally did whatever we could to give back to our community. We learned that service begins at home and is reinforced at school.
Years later, the underlying values of that motto have helped to shape my life and career choices. I now work at Providence Day School, a place that “exists to inspire in our students a passion for learning, a commitment to personal integrity, and a sense of social responsibility.” At Providence Day we supplement lessons learned at home by integrating character education into our social responsibility program. Students in each division develop empathy while engaging in developmentally appropriate service.
In the Lower School, our approach of Love & Logic helps students gain self-confidence as they learn to find solutions to everyday challenges. This year each grade will celebrate the patients at Levine Children’s Hospital by way of seasonal decorations for their playrooms, waiting rooms, and hospital room doors.
As students get older, there are opportunities for them to go off campus for service projects. Middle School has developed a relationship with J.H. Gunn Elementary. Throughout the year PD students visit Gunn to help teachers create learning environments in their rooms, read with students, run supply drives, and lead lessons on famous historical figures.
Finally, in Upper School, 9th graders are encouraged to “Be The Change” through a series of in-depth workshops and off campus days of service. They learn how economic disparities can change life trajectory, reflect on their experiences, and identify ways in which they can affect change in the community. Many upper school kids also participate in Students of Service, a club in which over 250 students commit to 20 service projects around the city.
As the only independent school in the country to host a Freedom School, Providence Day provides opportunities for families to volunteer together. We have increased awareness of the needs in our community and help provide a vehicle by which parents can initiate conversations that lead to a lifelong love of service.
Oprah says you have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world. Take time to discover what sparks the interest of your child and then develop that into a family service project. I serve because my parents taught me that it’s the right thing to do. Why do you serve?
If you are interested in learning more about service opportunities for children, please visit ShareCharlotte and YesKidzCan.
Providence Day School Open Houses:
November 2 @ 2 p.m.
November 11 @ 9:30 a.m.
Providence Day School
5800 Sardis Road
Charlotte, NC 28270
(704) 887-6000
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twitter: @PDSHead
1 comment
Great article on service learning at PDS! You made a great point – learning to serve begins at home. It continues at PDS because so many of our faculty and staff have been encouraged by our parents’ examples to serve. It seems only natural and a part of who we are that we would encourage our students to serve in our community and abroad. We are all inter-connected in this world. As the world has gotten smaller with the amazing technology that allows us to connect more readily with any place in the world, we have a better understanding of the needs of people in Africa, Egypt, Central America, etc. You not only see photos of these people in need, you can talk to them, establish a relationship with them, and hear their stories. It becomes real to you, and you feel a need to do “something.” You can reach out across the distance and find ways to help. You can also walk down the streets of Charlotte and see people in need. They could have been a lot like you until the man or woman lost their job and have not been able to find another that paid for the basic necessities of their family. So now they find themselves and their families in a homeless shelter or living from place to place. They are all around us and need us to serve them a meal at the soup kitchen, pass out towels and soap at the shelters, provide clothing for them by donating used clothing to Urban Ministries. The list goes on and on….I will end this comment with the words my parents spoke thousands of times when I was growing up. It was their way of reminding us how fortunate we were, why they did what they could to serve others, and why we should reach out to others in need: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”