Shannon Hockswender,Service Learning Teacher Kindergarten
The kindergarten year is the foundational year for our service learning curriculum. Students focus on service at home, service at school and service in the community. Our community service partnership is with the Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte. The house looks and acts as a real home to families in need of a place to stay while their child receives treatment at the local children's hospital. The Ronald McDonald House supports families by providing everything that you would typically find at home: a laundry room, a beautiful kitchen, a pantry to store personal food items, a play room, a homework area, and private sleeping areas. Our kindergarten students collect household items to donate throughout the year. They also they go to Build-A-Bear Workshop to create a special bear to donate to the children of the house. Kindergarten supports a school-wide pop tab collection which also creates income for the RMH to use. The goal is to collect one million pop tabs in order to financially support 40 families during their stay.

Tracy Hoskins, Service Learning Teacher 1st Grade
First grade service learning focuses on pet care and service animals. Students help the Cornelius Animal Shelter by collecting supplies through their “Have-a-Heart” donation drive and bake sale each February. They also partner with 6th grade to provide donations to other area animal rescues in need. The goal of the service learning curriculum in first grade is to make students aware of how important people and animals are for our community.

Dawn Modrak, Service Learning Teacher 2nd Grade
To honor those in our community who have served our country, the second graders partner with the Mooresville Library and Richard’s Cafe in Downtown Mooresville in November. The students create handmade Veterans Day cards and personally deliver them to the veterans at Richard’s Cafe. They eat brunch, share their cards, and walk through the museum with the veterans while asking lots of questions about the memorabilia and pictures on the walls. It is a very unique bond that children create with these special members of our community.

Hampton Hager, Service Learning Teacher 3rd Grade
The 3rd grade class goes to 5th Street Ministries, a homeless shelter located in Statesville, NC. 5th Street Ministries provides clothing, food, and access to healthcare and is a safe sanctuary for men, women, and children. The 3rd grade students help in the kitchen when they visit the shelter each month. Students serve food and dessert, hand out water, and greet the people that visit the shelter. Each year students hold a bake sale at Woodlawn and all the money is donated to 5th Street Ministries to help those in need.

Debbie Lolla, Service Learning Teacher 4th Grade
Our fourth graders learn early on in the school year that being a role model is a core value for their class. As they serve as mentors to young children at La Escuelita in Davidson, they begin to define themselves as role models. Whether they serve as a one-on-one reading buddy, assist with literacy and math activities for small groups, or encourage language development in free-play centers, our fourth graders realize the rewarding experience of being a mentor. This partnership provides an opportunity for our fourth graders to apply important life skills such as good listening and communication skills, patience, empathy, reflection, and respect.

Trey Fouche, Service Learning Teacher 5th grade
A core value for our fifth graders is leadership. Each week they are tasked with recycling paper and plastic products in each building on our campus. Fifth graders also educate lower school students on what can be recycled and what is trash. Other on-campus service opportunities arise throughout the year like hosting the annual Lower School Core Values Presentation and the K-12 Veteran’s Day assembly. Fifth graders visit off-campus organizations that serve different groups of people in the community.

Catherine Packard, 6th Grade Service Learning Teacher
The sixth grade service learning program focuses on animal advocacy. Students participate in a variety of activities that allow them to learn about domesticated and wild animals and how to advocate for animal protection and proper animal care. Students work throughout the year to understand the importance of responsible animal ownership, working to educate their community about various topics related to ethical animal treatment. They also advocate for wild animals through an integrated presentation about the wonders and benefits of insects and a performance piece about migratory birds. They partner with Piedmont Animal Rescue to learn common reasons for animal surrender and develop materials for potential pet owners that address these concerns. Students also work to support this organization by raising money selling homemade dog biscuits at Christmas in Davidson, holding donation drives, making beds and toys for animals, and creating animal care packets for current and future pet owners. At the end of the year, students choose one habit they will commit to practicing, or an organization they will commit to supporting as an advocate for animals.

Katie Verlin, 7th Grade Service Learning Teacher
The aim of seventh grade service is to introduce students to sustainability as a way to become positive contributors to our society. Through class discussions, readings, and field experiences, students explore a variety of environmental issues facing our local, regional, and global community. Using what they learn from these experiences, they develop educational opportunities for others so they can incorporate sustainable practices into their own lifestyles. Integrating service learning with science, language arts, and visual arts, they design and create messages about creative reuse, and develop action plans to enact on our campus, and in our local community to help develop a sustainable society. Through this process, students come to recognize the positive impact they can have on our community and our environment.

Meredith Swanson & Kim Lysne, 8th Grade Service Learning Teachers
The eighth grade service learning program, Bridging Generations, is designed to develop an appreciation and respect for the older adults in our society. Students gain an understanding of the challenges older adults face by learning about the aging process, examining the complex world in which aging adults must learn to live, and evaluating the misconceptions and labels that are sometimes given to older adults. The students apply what they learn by designing and adapting entertaining, engaging, and educational activities for older adults. The students share these activities with their older adult friends at Accordius Health, a long term care and rehabilitation center in Mooresville, each month. The service learning activities are student driven, providing an opportunity for the development and practice of planning, organization, collaboration and presentation skills. Through thoughtful reflections, class discussions, and visits with the residents, students develop a greater sense of empathy and concern for older adults.