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Date: 4/25/2023
MONSON — On April 14, approximately 300 Monson High School students engaged in a town and schoolwide day of community service, giving back to their school district and community at large in a show of volunteerism en masse.
Superintendent Cheryl Clarke said this is the second annual day of service for the entire school. The first day of service in 2022 came about after educators saw that the pockets of groups doing community service in the school positively impacted those involved, and decided to make it a schoolwide initiative.
The students started the day off watching videos on community service and discussing them, and then were dispatched to around 30 different places, Clarke said.
Clarke said, “It really is just a learning experience for the kids on giving back to the school, their school community, and the larger community.”
The school reached out to the town and the other schools in the department to see what they needed to have done and how the students could help. Then, teachers got to sign up to lead activities they believed in or preferred to do, and students were able to choose how they wanted to participate after that.
Clarke said the students cleaned gravestones at Hillside Cemetery, cleaned up the disc golf course, helped at the Monson Free Library in the children’s department, and set up furniture at the Town Hall, along with other projects.
“We would like to thank the teachers and students who went up to Flynt Park this morning and picked up trash and changed out disc golf flags. Your efforts are appreciated!” the Parks and Recreation Department posted on their Facebook page.
The library also gave a nod to the efforts of the day, posting on their Facebook page, “Thanks to these amazing students from Monson High School for helping with Baby Time, opening the patio, and cleaning and organizing our toy closet as part of their Annual Day of Service. We greatly appreciate all your hard work!! Thank you!”
Within the district, Clarke said there was a group making tie blankets for homeless shelters and creating cards for the military, while others painted the baseball shed and hosted a free car wash at Quarry Hill Community School. The vocational independence program also had a bake sale with treats for both humans and dogs at Monson Savings Bank.
Clarke said Principal Joseph Trivisonno had a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports activity at Quarry Hill, a field day where the high school students worked with the younger grades.
The day of community service tradition will continue in the years to come, and this year’s event was a great success, Clarke said.