The following article comes from Brooke Brindley of the Nashoba Brooks School.
When you ask a seventh grader how they’d like to spend their Saturday, most would probably say “sleep in” or “hang out with friends.” However, 22 seventh grade girls from Nashoba Brooks School chose to spend their snowy Saturday doing something meaningful. They volunteered for Heading Home, an organization whose mission is to end homelessness in Greater Boston, moving a 21-year-old college student and her 2-year-old daughter out of a shelter and into their first apartment.
The event was well orchestrated, with the students preparing well ahead of time. First, they solicited donated items for the home, and raised money to buy the rest — everything from beds to toothbrushes. On the move day, the girls toted everything they had collected into the eighth floor Somerville apartment including lamps, pillows, sheets, toys, books, kitchen supplies, artwork, furniture, towels, and all of the things that make a house an inviting home. After moving in all of the essentials, the students went to work on transforming the apartment into a warm, well equipped home. They built a desk, put together a green retreat bedroom for mom, a princess room with toys and books for the daughter, a cozy living room, and set up an entire kitchen. In addition, they stocked the pantries with supplies, the closets with clothes, and the refrigerator with food. Everyone in the class pitched in with the students doing the lion’s share of the work. The students felt grateful that through their hard work they were able to make a difference and help a good cause.
The school’s partnership with Heading Home, Inc. started through an alumnus, Wendy Jacobs, who is the organization’s Chief Development Officer. The organization fits perfectly with the school’s commitment to service learning and mission to educate children for a life of continuous learning, accomplishment, and leadership in a diverse and changing world. As part of the strong academic program, Nashoba Brooks School empowers students to be responsible citizens through service learning initiatives. All members of the Nashoba Brooks community, from preschoolers to eighth graders, are involved in meaningful service activities. The goal of the school is to channel students’ interests and talents while opening their eyes to new ideas, diverse experiences, and global awareness. Not only do students develop skills that will serve them throughout life, they build lasting relationships and develop a better understanding of problems and how to solve them.
In other Nashoba Brooks news…
Nashoba Brooks School Preschoolers shared with their third grade “buddies” the e-books they created on their iPads during their “We are all alike, We are all different” unit of study. Nashoba Brooks School has brought technology into the classroom by incorporating the use of iPads into their interdisciplinary curriculum. The apps on the iPad expand the learning experience by providing interactive lessons that engage students, making learning fun while preparing them for the 21st century. The school has found the iPad to be a powerful and versatile educational tool.