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As a relatively new public school, committed to serving a highly diverse student population, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School understands the importance of connecting with one’s community from the start. One of our goals is to show our middle school students the power of service to others.
With that in mind, this past December, student leaders turned what began as a small idea into a big challenge to all of our students to collect and donate as many books as they could to local doctor’s offices. Their goal, likely taken from a message that reverberates throughout our school, was to send a message about the importance of reading to and with young children whenever possible.
Sister Act provided some incentive that charged our students up and ultimately helped them understand their own role and the value in building a bridge to their community. The possibility of attending a Broadway show together set off a firestorm of fun around this service project. The importance of reading outside of the classroom became a message that travelled from our small school into our community. The result: our students collected some 1000 books that they donated to local doctors’ offices committed to prescribing and teaching the importance of reading outside the classroom to the parents of their patients-many who are themselves new to the community and have not had educational opportunity in their lives.
Our students now see that they have the power to become future healers of their world. They are looking for more service projects. A simple small deed became a large opportunity for Brooklyn Prospect students who have tasted the positive effect each and every one of them can have in their community and world.
