Stamford Students Participate in Civic Engagement Projects

From the Stamford Public Education Foundation:

The Stamford Public Education Foundation’s Stamford Mentoring Program provides service-learning to four Stamford elementary schools. As the end of the school year approaches, each of the groups at each school participates in culminating projects which teach civic engagement and leadership. The following events will be taking place over the next two weeks:

Tuesday, April 12 at the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, 20 11th and 12th-grade mentors from Stamford High School worked with 39 fifth-graders from Julia A. Stark Elementary School on their culminating project. During their visit to the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, students learned about the importance of food banks for the community and help the organization receive food donations from the community.

Thursday, April 14, through the Catholic Charities’ Senior Nutrition Program, 39 11th and 12th-grade mentors from Westhill High School will work with 64 third-graders from Roxbury Elementary School on their culminating project focusing on building character strength. Students and mentors will decorate place mats, which will be distributed to program recipients from Catholic Charities’ Senior Nutrition Program. The director of the Senior Nutrition Program,
Maureen Neuberger, will attend the mentoring session at 9:20 a.m. with a nutritionist from the Senior Nutrition Program to explain the impact of their work and making healthy choices.

Tuesday, April 19 at Mill River Park, 27 UConn-Stamford students from Dr. Monica Miller-Smith’s Low Income Families and Family-School Partnership courses will work with 102 third-graders from Hart Magnet Elementary School to work on their culiminating project, focusing on the environment. SPEF is partnering with Uconn-Stamford and Mill River Collaborative to host a park cleanup (with a rain date of Thursday, April 28) at Mill River Park to celebrate Earth Day. The two clean-up sessions will be from 9:30-10:45 a.m. and from 12:30-1:45 p.m. Students will weed, plant, and mulch.

Thursday, April 21 at Edgehill Senior Living Facility, 42 ninth and 10th-grade mentors from JM Wright Technical School’s health technology and building maintenance departments will work with 39 third-graders from Davenport Ridge Elementary School on their culminating project, focusing on civic engagement for Edgehill residents. Students worked with their mentors to create artwork for Edgehill residents. Representatives from Edgehill will join mentors and mentees in a wrap-up celebration and to receive artwork at 10 a.m.

The Stamford Mentoring Program’s service-learning component is offered to third and fifth grade students at select elementary schools. While the Stamford Mentoring Program will serve more than 700 students from grades 3-12, the service-learning component will reach 350 elementary school students by years end. During weekly mentoring sessions, mentors and their students discuss topics related to service-learning, such as civic engagement, community service and leadership.