Eighth grade students completed presentations Friday tackling global issues including poverty, energy consumption, gender inequality, and other United Nations Sustainability Goals - all with the hope of improving their community and the world.
Social Responsibility
Providence Day School: Inspiring a sense of social responsibility
At Providence Day, social responsibility means cultivating a sense of connection to our community and the world, and taking action to improve the lives of others. Social responsibility progresses throughout the curriculum in all grades, from activities that develop empathy and gratitude in Lower School; to a more participatory approach in Middle School; to problem-solving and innovation in Upper School and beyond.
Additionally, Providence Day remains the only independent school in the nation to host a Freedom School program each summer, and the community comes together to collect school supplies for all of Charlotte's 18 Freedom School sites year-round. Read more here.
Social Responsibility by Division:
Lower School
EXPLORATION:
In LS our students explore different community service opportunities to help expose them to various ways they are able to contribute to our community. This is a sampling of our Lower School initiatives:
- Levine Children’s Hospital
- The Lunch Project
- Fifth Grade Safety Patrol
- Collateral Repair Project
- The Relatives
- Ronald McDonald House
- Crisis Assistance Ministries
GRATITUDE:
Opportunity to recognize and develop a sense of gratitude and appreciation for our community and our school.
REFLECTION:
“Write Your Own Story" journals, discussion, drawing, and other activities.
Middle School
EMPATHY:
Starting in sixth grade and building in seventh and eighth, Middle Schoolers work together to build empathetic listening skills.
PARTICIPATION:
Grade level partnerships with schools in Mecklenburg County; Capstone initiatives encouraging students to work collaboratively to design real-life solutions to challenges.
- 6th Grade: Movement School Kindergarten buddies
- 7th Grade: Winterfield Elementary First Grade buddies
- 8th Grade: Wilson STEM School partnership, Community Partnership
REFLECTION:
Facilitating student reflections on making a difference.
Upper School
INVESTIGATION:
Classroom curriculum and campus initiatives direct students to investigate the economic, cultural, social, political, educational, and environmental obstacles that impede community development.
- Grade level Initiatives: 9th Grade Charger Impact Challenge in which students learn about the impediments that obstruct upward mobility and social justice for thousands of their neighbors throughout Mecklenburg County.
- Classroom Curriculum and Service Learning Activities: include promoting civic engagement, examining sustainable development practices, and providing support to organizations that serve vulnerable communities.
- Student-centered Service Clubs work with area organizations support community needs.
- Student led Foundation Board lends financial support to student-centered social responsibility initiatives.
INNOVATION:
Through their experiences in problem-based or experiential learning coursework, Upper School students are encouraged to propose and implement innovative solutions to community challenges.
REFLECTION:
Students have opportunities (both formal and informal) to meaningfully reflect on their community engagement.
COLLEGE AND BEYOND:
- Researching university majors and programming to determine how best to build upon their community engagement experience.
- Reflecting on community engagement experiences throughout the college application process.
- Exploring the occupations and industries that can contribute to community solution-building.
Social Responsibility News
Upper schoolers in English teacher Christine Marshall's class embarked on a recent experiment to see what it's like to survive on less than $2 a day, a measure frequently evoked to describe the global poverty line.
