Encouraging Boys to Initiate Service Learning By Jenny Bruce, Associate Director of Communications Allen-Stevenson boys learn early on the value of doing for others. That goal is integral to the School’s Vision Statement: “We help boys learn that they can make a difference, that is, to make the world a better place.” Yet, the following words from the vision are equally, if not more important; that the School expects each boy—“to be active and engaged in his own learning, so that he becomes intellectually, socially and emotionally strong.”
This winter, when our families, faculty, and staff donated coats, hats, and mittens for P.S. 83, our first-grade students got involved. The first-grade faculty not only took this learning opportunity to build the boys’ math skills but also explained how some fellow New Yorkers did not have the warm clothes they needed for winter. In their own classrooms, the boys eagerly sorted bag upon bag of puffy coats and soft, warm accessories, excited to be helpers, making a difference. For nearly twenty years, Allen-Stevenson boys have also led a book drive for the children at P.S. 83. While that effort continued this year, in previous years, our students were able to bring the books to the school where they would read to first-grade students. This undertaking was always a meaningful way of connecting their efforts directly to those who would benefit, further humanizing the imperative to help those who may be less fortunate.
Boxing up books for PS 83 Upper Division boys explaining the Book Drive to Lower Division boys
Spring 2022
Counting coats, hats and mittens
In this same way, performing community service helps to improve the world beyond our schoolhouse walls; however, service learning moves the dial just that much further. The first essentially begins and ends with the act of volunteering, while the latter’s focus on “learning” provides an essential jumping-off point for students to become better young men. Developing an awareness of the needs of others often takes maturity and reflection. Our faculty do not shy away from engaging in conversations with their students about the different needs of our communities near and far, and it is never too early to begin those conversations in age-appropriate ways.
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