More than 500 students and approximately 65 staff members will participate.
More than 500 students along with approximately 65 staff members from Washington Township High School will team in the spirit of community outreach and service on Friday, June 1 during the school’s 18th annual Senior Service Day.
Washington Township High School’s Senior Service Day, first held in 2001, was originally proposed by then-Student Council President McKenzie McNaughton, now a graduate of Brigham Young University, who wanted to enhance the relationship between the high school students and the community at-large.
After an assembly to kick off the day at 7:35 a.m., the participants will be dispatched to municipal parks, senior centers, every elementary and middle school, as well as throughout the high school grounds, starting at 8 a.m.
Among the myriad of activities, seniors will:
· Assist elementary and middle school teachers in various classrooms with reading and tutoring
· Work outside the district’s school buildings, cleaning up litter and mulching flowerbeds, planting flowers and laying playground mulch;
· Assist with a middle school fitness challenge hosted at WTHS’s Tom Brown Field;
· Clean up at Washington Lake Park, the Veterans Monument near the Washington Township Police Department; the area around the WTPD offices; the fire house on East Holly Avenue; and at the WT Municipal Building.
· Perform dance and enjoy social interaction with residents at the Washington Township Senior Living Center; and
· Help District elementary school students in grades 1–5 create blankets through “The Blanket Project,” which is the District’s third annual “Spring in Service Project.”
The day will culminate back at the high school at 12:30 p.m. with a celebration for all participants in the afternoon. They will be treated to pizza, drinks and water ice, as well as earning prizes and giveaways. The Washington Township Education Association Pride committee is a big sponsor, providing every senior with a Senior Service Day T-shirt, as well as donating funds to help pay for the pizza and water ice. The WTHS Senior Class Council and Student Council also serve as Senior Service Day sponsors.
The Blanket Project returns after being a successful service project on Senior Service Day in 2016. This year, the District received a generous donation of fabric that will allow for the creation of at least 200 blankets. WTHS seniors will be dispatched to each of the District’s six elementary schools, where they will pair up with the younger students to create blankets.
Fabric will be prepped by the WTHS students and staff members so that the elementary students can assist with tying them together on June 1. Completed blankets will be shipped out to locations like the Ronald McDonald House, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and DuPont Hospital for Children, among others.
In recognition of the students and their efforts to prepare and finalize the 200 plus blankets, approximately $4,500 will be donated to three recipients suffering from serious medical situations, as well as to help fund dinners for residents at the Ronald McDonald House.
