Service Learning
VALUE CENTERED LEARNING THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
Character building skills are an integral part of the curriculum at Academy of Our Lady School. Our Interim Principal, Ms. Katharine Clemente, believes that service learning activities are critical for the students to foster civic responsibility, caring, empathy and tolerance for others.
At Academy of Our Lady, our service learning is based on the four pillars of our school: Faith, Knowledge, Community, Respect. These four pillars are at the core of all we do.
LEARNING THROUGH SERVICE
Academy of Our Lady students are always busy helping our community as well as enhancing their knowledge through service. Service learning has been designed to foster civic responsibility into the school’s curriculum.Students learn through thoughtful active participation in age-appropriate projects designed to serve the needs of specific community organizations. The students have found that their projects have brought an enthusiasm and generosity as well as an understanding of the needs of the communities around them.
The eighth grade enjoys making apple pies for the Glen Rock Community Church ’s Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless. In this project they experienced math skills in weights and measurements, science in chemical reactions, language arts in reflective writing, and social awareness in the needs of homeless people. “We were happy that we could make someone’s holiday brighter” and “we learned how to make delicious apple pies which we can now make for our families.” Another student commented that, “I liked this project because I had a chance to give back to my community.”
Fifth graders collected necessary items for Family Promise and visited the temporary homeless shelter at St. Catharine. Girl Scouts collect teddy bears for children in area hospitals.