Chapter 4: The Most Important Lesson

We do not remember whose idea it was, but we are pretty sure that everyone had the same reaction on that cold February morning. It was a crazy idea: send all 800 Duniway Middle School students and staff members to an offsite location to perform community service. The logistics were mind boggling, and we wondered how the rest of the school community would receive the idea. However, middle school teachers are hardwired for challenges, so all the members of our small school leadership team found ourselves nodding our heads in agreement and were immediately generating ideas.

From the first craziness, a solid plan began to form. Because we wanted to hit the ground running, we had just 2 months to plan and make this project happen. Later that spring, we would divide the school into three service days, one per grade level. Students would serve with their Bridges class—a class where the curriculum focuses on “softer skills” like empathy, kindness, giving, and good listening skills. Our team hoped that a real world experience would bring these values to life for our students. Not surprisingly, our first challenge was to find sites that shared our vision. The larger community does not always share our love for middle schoolers. After dozens of phone calls, eventually a number of brave organizations, which had close proximity to us and a need for numbers of eager and enthusiastic adolescents, signed on to host our beloved students.