Students, staff participate in Sewickley Academy's annual Day of Service

Students, faculty and staff of Sewickley Academy spent much of April 8 sharing their talents with others via more than 20 different service projects during the school’s annual Day of Service.

“One of our core values at Sewickley Academy is community. We believe it’s important for our students to learn about what it means to be part of not only their local communities but to think globally as well,” said Sewickley Academy’s Head of School Dr. Ashley Birtwell. “The Day of Service is a way for them to experience that firsthand through volunteering.”

Working with the Rise Against Hunger organization, Senior School students donned hairnets and gloves and worked in teams to assemble meals consisting of soy, rice, and dehydrated vegetables while others weighed and sealed each package. In approximately two hours, the group of less than 50 individuals had prepared 8,000 meals, ending the morning by reaching Rise Against Hunger’s goal of 10,152 meals. The meals will be stored and eventually shipped overseas to help villages and schools where residents struggle to combat hunger daily.

Students from both the Lower and Middle schools contributed to the maintenance and upkeep of the gardens, trails and natural outdoor classrooms at Fern Hollow Nature Center.

“This is one of the best partnerships we have going,” said Fern Hollow executive director Sam Capezzuto. “We have 33 acres and when the students weren’t able to help during covid, it made a huge impact. It took our staff and volunteers nearly a month to do what these kids take care of in a day.”

Grade 2 and Senior School students partnered to work on the Academy’s Secret Garden. Once dedicated to flower, pollinator and native gardens, the space was utilized for Lower School recess during covid. Watching children at play made it clear that the Secret Garden should be transformed into a kid-friendly experiential learning environment. Work is underway to add outdoor classroom space, and students will have room to let their creativity soar whether it be tending the raised gardening beds or constructing their own projects with building supplies such as tires, ropes and pulleys.

In the spirit of giving back to the community, the third graders spent the morning preparing a free little library to be placed on the playground between the Academy’s Early Childhood Center and Lower School building. Working in shifts, they used pages from old books to create a rainbow of paper flowers used to decorate the outside of a donated mini-refrigerator that will house the books.

“It’s lots of fun brainstorming ideas and being asked what we want to do,” said Sophia Stefanik. “I like working on the different parts (of the project) and with different groups, not just my homeroom.”

When not working on the outside of the lending library, students were able to select books to share as well as create unique bookmarks as special treats for those who borrow the books.

A particular group of Senior School students had the opportunity to choose between three letter-writing/card-making possibilities: writing to cancer patients and survivors, drafting letters to congressional representatives about their specific causes or passions, or crafting welcome messages to Afghani refugees who have evacuated to Pittsburgh. Sophomore Abby Bojalad chose to write to cancer survivors because “girls with cancer have always been close to my heart.”

The third option was a particular challenge as the students had to determine how to express themselves mostly through visuals as the evacuees from Afghanistan receiving their designs likely do not understand much, if any, English. Senior Olivia Park, junior Isabella Capito and sophomore Michael Gorloff all decided to showcase the bridges of Pittsburgh in their designs. Utilizing an online translation tool, Michael added “Welcome to Pittsburgh” in both the Pashto and Dari languages.

In addition to performing acts of service, Sewickley Academy students were provided opportunities to learn about other service organizations.

“We are so proud of our students, led by our faculty and staff, for their enthusiasm about volunteering,” said Dr. Birtwell. “We hope that what our kids experienced today will help spark a lifetime of helping others.”

Other service projects included:

• planting 125 trees through the Allegheny Land Trust at Devil Hollow Park,

• completing a fundraising mailing for the Western PA Hemophilia Foundation,

• creating cards and artwork for the personal care residents at the Masonic Village,

• assisting with various projects for Sewickley Public Library,

• hauling and spreading mulch at the Mary Roberts Rheinhart Park,

• painting flowerpots and planting flowers for local nursing home residents,

• designing and creating murals in the school’s art wing and library.