Serving Our Community
Community service is an integral part of the Montessori philosophy. Teaching our students ways to care for and give back to our community is a pillar of our program. Currently our students are participating in two community service projects.
Operation Bedroll
We are excited to partner with Spring Valley High School in working on Operation Bedroll. Our students are collecting plastic bags and turning them into plarn (plastic yarn). All ages are actively involved in the process. The primary students (3 year olds through 5 year olds) fold the bags and prepare them for our lower elementary students (1st through 3rd graders). The lower elementary students cut the bags into strips and pass the strips along to our upper elementary students (4th and 5th graders), where they turn the strips into a plastic type yarn called plarn. They eagerly send the plarn to our Spring Valley High School partners, where they weave the plarn into bed mats that are easily transportable and water resistant for our homeless community. This will be a year long community service project for our students.
Below is an example of a plarn bedroll displayed by Jane Hiller from Sonoco.
Palmetto Health Children's Hospital
We are also partnering with Palmetto Health Children's Hospital by collecting items for the holidays. While Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital accepts donations all year, unexpected hospital stays during the holiday season can be especially difficult for families. Each year Child Life organizes a Holiday Market. Donations are used to set up a “store” and parents/caregivers are provided with tickets to redeem for gifts. The Holiday Market enables families to “shop” for gifts without having to leave the hospital.Our students are excited to participate in collecting items for these families to "shop" for gifts for their loved ones. Due to safety and health concerns, the hospital asks that all donations are new items.
Each grade level is collecting items for specific age groups. Please see the lists below if you are interested in making a donation.
