Service Learning at Friends aims to foster a student’s sense of purpose outside of oneself—a practice grounded in the School’s Quaker testimonies. Using a social justice approach that incorporates ethical, social, and environmental values into the curriculum, students are encouraged to use their head, heart & hands to help bring about a world that ought to be.

 

These three components can be broken down as follows. The head speaks to the importance of educating ourselves to the complexities of the 21st-century challenges. The heart speaks to the importance of building empathy and understanding for those most directly impacted by these issues. The hands speak to the importance of action and developing within each of us, as global citizens, a sense of social responsibility.

Through our service-learning programming, students are encouraged to see themselves as agents of change, to seek out partnerships with organizations and leaders in the community that share their concerns and visions, and to use their experiences of service and civic engagement to bring about a more peaceful, equitable and just world.

In the Upper School, there are several academic courses that include a component of service learning. Students enrolled in these courses are eligible to earn credit toward their annual service requirement. Additionally, the student Service Committee organizes monthly volunteer opportunities for their peers. Internships and individual placements through the Dean of Co-Curricular Programs and Service Coordinator are also available. Each year, students log a minimum of 25 hours of service, whether through academic coursework, after-school volunteerism or through summer internships.