Number of Participants: 8
Hours Donated: 4
Value of Time Served: $270
Event Type: Poverty & Homelessness
Sport: Schools
Date: March 29, 2019
Location:
Long Beach
NY, USA
About:
Long Beach High School’s ninth-grade Team B members continued efforts inspired by two of their own that aimed to help others and make a difference in the community. The entire group collaborated to revisit the service project that current freshmen Anna Lanigan and Ashley Cummings initiated last year as eighth-graders through the Middle Years Program.
The students helped those facing difficult times by preparing kits of feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste and hairbrushes. They also made sandwiches, which they served at the St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen on March 20. Teachers Tara Brady, Anna Pace and Jay Spitz helped make the day possible with the generous donations of the Long Beach High School staff.
All middle school students are required to design and carry out a MYP Community Service Project intended to help solve global problems. With the encouragement of IB teachers and Coordinator Jennifer Quinn, Team B piloted this follow-up to the assignment, which proved to be a success. The high school hopes to expand the experience to eventually involve the whole grade in selecting MYP service projects to build upon in the future, and for students to continue their work as they progress through the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in their junior and senior years.
IB Diploma candidates are required to complete purposeful projects known as Creative, Activity and Service initiatives. According to the IB, studies show that these experiences can develop students’ skills for civic engagement as well as valuable project management skills that will serve them well as citizens and in their careers.
Photo Caption: Members of ninth-grade Team B at Long Beach High School prepared kits and served food at St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen as a continuation some of the Middle Years Program Community Service efforts that they developed last year.
Photos Courtesy of Long Beach Public Schools