Energized, Thankful, and Optimistic: A Month of Service

R eflection by A lex A nde R S A nzone , c l ASS i

This January marked the first-ever Service Month at Roxbury Latin. With robust participation across all classes—and more than 3,000 donations now in the possession of those in need throughout greater Boston—I wanted to reflect on our efforts and my experience as the leader of the service program during the build-up, execution, and outcome of Service Month. To get right to it, I am extremely proud of—but not at all surprised by—the RL community’s participation and enthusiasm surrounding the service drives.

A conversation after a chemistry test junior year, and a text message over the summer, landed me the position as student leader of the community service program, alongside Mr. Pojman. I am grateful that he provided me with such a great opportunity. At the start of the fall semester, we sat down and exchanged ideas about community service and its place at RL. Mr. Pojman and I each had our own visions, and we were excited to realize them. Our main goal was to consolidate community service efforts at RL. During my time at RL leading up to this year, community service took the form of smaller volunteer opportunities and class projects. While important and meaningful, these individual projects lacked overall cohesion and student leadership as an extracurricular program. Mr. Pojman and I sought to bring community service front and center and invigorate the RL community, as service has invigorated us.

And so, we created the Service Corps, a student group of service representatives from each class. Across three meetings in the fall, the Service Corps developed a plan for three weeks of school-wide clothing, coat, toy, and food drives to take place immediately following winter break, with a leaderboard and raffle system to engage RL’s naturally competitive side. (Come on, you know it’s true.)

In October, at a Parents’ Auxiliary meeting, Mr. Pojman, along with Will Hutter (I) and Jake Novak (II), spoke to the PA community about previous and ongoing service efforts at RL (Habitat for Humanity builds, Project DEEP, Tech Tutoring) and our plans for the year ahead. Then, in November, despite some trepidation, I delivered a Hall to the school that outlined our plan for Service Month. In hindsight, these efforts to promote service at RL—to parents and to students—had the intended effect, as they, alongside constant and enthusiastic promotion from the Service Corps resulted in the majority of the community participating. In all, we collected, sorted, and donated more than 3,700 items (and a special thank you to all of the parent volunteers who delivered these donations).

Thanks to you all—students, parents, and RL faculty and staff—Service Month was an overwhelming success. Putting aside the volume of donations (which is impressive, especially for a school of our size), Service Month left me feeling energized to do more, thankful to be part of a community that not only cares but responds to a call to action, and, overall, optimistic that service will continue to flourish at RL. With this being Mr. Pojman’s last year at RL, it feels particularly meaningful to leave the community with a greater love and appreciation for one of his passions: service to others. //