Hawken Teachers Share Community Service Experience

Director of Student Affairs and Community Service Nadja Deighan and Life Skills Instructor Sue Wilson participated in the 2005-2006 Raushenbush White Paper Conference. The conference, sponsored by the Ohio Association of Independent Schools (OAIS), brings together teachers to produce an authoritative statement on a topic of vital interest to educators. Deighan and Wilson collaborated with more than 20 colleagues from Ohio for three days and wrote a position statement on Service Learning: From Empathy to Advocacy. Wilson, who contributed to the Lower School portion of the paper, commented that \"it was challenging to write a piece with many voices, but the group wrote a strong statement.\" The experience was affirming \" she says, \"we include service learning in the curriculum. We start with students in preschool and help foster empathy building. As a child becomes less self-centered, they learn to take care of others; and this starts in the classroom for the youngest students.\" Students in the Lower School partake in various service opportunities, such as the Bag Lunch program and the Homeless Stand Down. From daily exposure to service learning, students become advocates by the time they matriculate to the Upper School. \"At the Upper School, community service is performed in addition to the curriculum,\" comments Deighan, who has approximately 29 years of community service experience. Deighan views the 20-year-old Bright Horizons program as \"a natural service learning experience.\" She explains, \"By working with children in a partnering school in Cleveland during an entire academic year, Hawken students personally get to know the children. They see the differences they make in the children`s lives and this leaves a lasting impression.\" Furthermore, Upper School students perform a tremendous amount of community service for the Greater Cleveland area and also hold annual collection drives for Harvest for Hunger and the Salvation Army Holiday Family project. If you are interested in reading the 2005-2006 White Paper, it will be published on the OAIS website here.