COMMUNITY SERVICE IS A WAY OF LIFE

SAN LUIS OBISPO: Old Mission School educates its students by living the motto of the founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman: "Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time."

As part of our curriculum from preschool to middle school, OMS encourages and requires acts of community service. Linda Murray, Assistant Principal and Kindergarten Teacher, introduces the preschoolers to community service in a family-to-family program. Throughout the school year, each class on the OMS Nativity campus collects items for their special family according to the family's wish list. The class continues to serve the same family throughout their attendance at the OMS Nativity campus.

First through sixth grades at the OMS Campus on Broad Street participate in community service projects with their classes. A few of their class projects are visiting and performing at local retirement and convalescent homes; collecting items for babies and seniors during "Respect Life" month; running a recycling project for their campus; and tithing as a student body on Fridays. With monies earned from recycling and tithing, the student body votes on which non-profit they will support financially. Many times during the school year, special needs present themselves. Sometimes the need is local such as the fire which left a family without a home or clothes. Other times the need is national as with Hurricane Katrina, or international as with our sister school in Guatemala. Students and parents respond spontaneously with donations to these emergencies. The response is an integral part of the identity of the Old Mission School community.

By the time OMS students have reached middle school, they are developing their own personal community service projects. Many of our student projects have been recognized in the news. Last year, Evan Doria was recognized for raising and donating $690 to the nonprofit Freedom Calls Foundation, which sponsors telephone calls, video conferencing, and internet service for soldiers. Marissa Hay, a 2007 graduate of OMS, has been acknowledged both in the SunBulletin and in the Tribune for her continuing work with Special Olympics. Community service does not end with the graduation of our students.

This year, OMS is extending their committment to their community service curriculum by including a Community Service Presentation Day. Modeled after the OMS Science Fair, middle school students presented their projects with personal demonstrations and display boards in a fair-like setting on their campus. OMS Principal Teri Stegman and Vice Principal Tina Ballantyne welcome interest from local business and non-profits with regard to the school's community service curriculum.

###