Grade 6 Community Service Day
Photos courtesy Sylvia Williams
On Tuesday, December 12, students in Grade 6 participated in a full-day, off-campus CAS opportunity. This opportunity coincided with the day set aside for Grade 5 students to move through a typical Grade 6 day, in anticipation of moving up to Middle School next August.
The school arranged service opportunities for Grade 6 students with five local agencies: Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta, Project Open Hand, Community Tool Depot, SafeHouse Outreach, and the DeKalb County Water Treatment Plant.
The students, with Grade 5 teachers and parent volunteers, performed designated, supervised work at the agencies, then returned to AIS to write reflections on their experiences.
SafeHouse Outreach
"On the bus when we got into the neighborhood where the Safehouse was, I noticed that all of the houses had bars and boards covering their windows or doors.... I was very uncomfortable. When we finally got there, we saw some scary looking men loitering around the outside of the building. After we got inside, the pastors explained to us that the men were only trying to change their life and make it better. After I heard that, I started to loosen up a bit." —Emily Cohen
"At the SafeHouse Outreach today, I learned that there are a lot of homeless people in Atlanta. I also learned that there are plenty of people who are trying to help these people." —Luke Smith
Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta
"When I helped clients carry furniture to their car, I did not complain, as I knew I was helping someone very needy... To see the clients have a big smile on their face and thank you makes you feel really great as a person. I would love to go volunteer there again." —Shreya Shah
"I think we made a big contribution. There was one lady who came and took so many things. It felt really good to help people and organize the objects. I loved that part!" —Leila Varzi
"We definitely improved our teamwork skills by communicating well with one another and by helping other members push the furniture." —Sammy Levine
Project Open Hand
"What we did was package meals for the elderly. We made over 1,500 meals, which is quite a lot. It felt good doing something that helped people. We are so lucky to be so fortunate that we have great health, but for other people it would be a miracle to feel so good." —Marin Lucic