T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R S T . L U K E ’ S S C H O O L

Welcome to 377, The Magazine for St. Luke’s School. The mission of this publicationis to bring you new perspectives on life and learning on the Hilltop through aparticular topic lens. In this issue, we celebrate Service. Look for the to identifystories that offer more at www.stlukesct.org.

“Embrace the wonderful irony that through service to others youwill findtrue personal fulfillment.”

These were my parting words to St. Luke’s 2011 graduates. The message ringsdown our hallways and across the Hilltop.At St. Luke’s, we “raise” students with theknowledge—based on experience—that a key to fulfillment is service.

To make a difference, a student need not be a CEO, or president of the student body,or captain of the team, or the smartest student in the classroom.You need simply bea good person, doing the things that actually make a difference, in your neighborhoodor on the world stage.

In the pages that follow, you will find many examples of St. Luke’s students,teachers and alumni honoring and giving meaning to our school’s motto: “Enter toLearn, Go Forth to Serve.” Of course, these are just the tip of the iceberg.There areso many more wonderful stories of service to share. In fact, if you would like to shareyour own story of service, please email us at communications@stlukesct.org. I lookforward to hearing what you have to say.

Mark Davis, Head of School

SLS alumna andmath teaching fellow, Susan Garnett, spentlast summer working with Richard’s Rwanda Impuhwe(“Compassion”): “I went to support young Rwandan girls whoneed education and health care. These children have almostnothing. Somany were left without parents after the 1994genocide. Yet every day they showed up so happy about thechance to be at school. I learned from them.”

Every year, SLS 7th graders engage in classroom and serviceactivities that raise the question,“What do you need to survive andthrive?”Last year students worked in Darien’s Person-to-Person(seen here) and several other charitable organizations. This year,Jennifer Pokorney, Director of Middle School Curriculum, says thefocus will be on women and education: “As part of our AmericanValues in the GlobalWorld curriculum, we will look at howeducation impacts women and culture. First we’ll look at thehistory of women and education in the U.S. and then we’llexpand our lens to include a global perspective.”

For the past several summers, Kai and Kamau Burtonhave volunteered for the Horizons enrichment programinWestport, serving students from Bridgeport. Kaishared her feelings about the experience: “It’s aprivilege to be able to work with such amazingchildren in a program that helps close the educationalachievement gap lost over the summer.”

“Not only am I doing things I love—helping 8thgrade students with video projects, algebra, dancechoreography, yoga, swimming, and drama—but Ican watch and help children in my community learn,grow, and aspire to be the best they can be.”

Kamau added,“Kai and I played guitar along with thekids singing…. It is bothmoving and personal whenyou see that the students respond to the passionyou’ve passed onto themwith enthusiasm andunending curiosity.”

This pastOctober, JacksonPrince trekked into themountains ofNepalwithNextGenerationNepal, a group that fights child trafficking:“The freshsmell of theopenair, and the rustling rice fields below…sopeaceful andso simple. Upuntil that point, I’d seeneverything from theoutside lookingin. But therewas a subtle turningpointwhere I becamean insider lookingout. I could see that Iwas in a culture, thousandsofmiles away fromhome,wherepeople enjoy the subtleties of life and cherish everymomenttogether.And I love it.”

This summer, English teacher Lisa Goldschmidtwent toOaxaca,Mexicoto provide a communitymeal for a desperately poor village. This was hersecond trip to the regionwith Simply Smiles, an organization that buildsculturally respectful relationships and small, sustainable economies.“Iwas blown away by the change in one starving, sleepy child I rememberedfrom last year,”said Lisa.“After a year of a regular diet, he is now a bright-eyed, energetic boywho enjoys the luxury of picking carrots out of hissoup. Howmarvelously normal! In just one trip, our group improved thedaily lives of 800 people, some ofwhomwalked hours for thatmeal. I can’twait to return in June 2012with a teamof students from St. Luke’s andRangitoto College in Auckland, NewZealand.”

A Two Way

St. Luke’s WatersideSummer Program

Street…

“Waterside is one of the finestexamples of a mutually beneficialservice learning project.”Kate Parker-Burgard

For the past five years,St. Luke’s has partneredwithWaterside School inStamford to bring studentsa summer experience notsoon to be forgotten.Waterside students ingrades 1-5 attend a six-weeksummer program, heldpartly atWaterside andpartly at St. Luke’s. Eachday is a combination ofserious academics with anafternoon of sports, art,nature, and the much-beloved waterslide.

“I love beinga part oftheir lives.”Ann Abbott Freeman

Every year thirty to forty St. Luke’s Upper School studentsvolunteer as teacher aides and recreation supervisors foranywhere from one to four weeks.The Center for Leadership’sKate Parker-Burgard,Director of Character Education, calls theprogram “one of the finest examples of a mutually beneficialservice learning project. Our kids learn about themselves andmake connections with kids from different backgrounds andcultures.This enriches their experience of the community andtheir world considerably.”

Ann Abbott Freeman ’13 hasvolunteered forWaterside forthe past two summers: “I willdefinitely volunteer again. Ilike the program because it’sa combination of giving backto the community and beingwith children.You get to formpersonal relationships andactually watch the kids grow.You find out how special eachchild is as an individual. I lovebeing part of their lives, evenif it’s only for a few weeksduring the summer.”

Mark Chuhta, Assistant Head of Middle School, is the co-director of St. Luke’sWaterside Summer Program (along with Waterside’s Jamel Keels). Mark has seenmany volunteers rise to the challenges aWaterside summer presents:

“Students that volunteer for Waterside always say it’s hard work but very,very rewarding. We give them a lot of responsibility and they run with it.Khori Davis (’11) is a great example of a kid that thrived. He loved the kidsand they loved him.They brought out the best in each other. That’s what thisprogram is all about.”

Students Teaching StudentsAs part of the 2011 St. Luke’s Waterside Summer Program, SLS students ErnstAngrand ’12 and Sam Posner ’12 introduced Waterside students to gamedevelopment, teaching simple game design and programming fundamentals.

For both boys, it was their first summer volunteering withWaterside. Sam wrote aboutthe experience on his website and in an article that appeared on a gaming website:“Limitation, they say, breeds creativity… while often frustrated in their efforts tocreate complex stories, many students put limited mechanics to intriguing use,creating engaging meta and social gameplay within simple games.”

Looking back on the summer, Sam commented: “The most exciting thing of all waswhen they were playing each others games.The kids would really want to show eachother what they had done. I also liked being able to share something I find reallyinteresting and help other people see why it’s interesting. It was great when a kid saidI get it now.”

NicaPhoto is a non-profit organization that brings youth inNagarote, Nicaragua a safe educational space and help withschoolwork, arts, life skills, food and clothing. The St. Luke’sArt Department works with NicaPhoto as part of an artisticexchange and service project. Students and faculty donateartwork to raise funds at the annual non-profit holidayboutique and SLS students send Nagarote students materialsthat they need every day, such as sneakers, cleats and schoolsupplies. “Our Parents Association also provided a verygenerous donation to NicaPhoto,” said photography teacherJeorge Yankura. “These funds will help with rent, utilities,supplies and other daily expenses.”

The Center for Leadership launched its first Service Symposiumon November 11, 2011. Upper School students and facultyattended the mini-conference, which included a keynotepresentation from Simply Smiles founder Bryan Nurnberger.Students selected two workshops from amongmore thantwenty organizations represented. Many St. Luke’s studentsand parents were among the presenters.

“This symposium allowed us to dig deep on service learning,”said the CFL’s Director of Character Education, Kate ParkerBurgard. “We wanted to get students really fired up andexpose them to the many different ways an individual canget involved in service.”

“It’s my favorite day of the whole year. Nothing is better.”That’show SLS Director of Athletics Kevin Butler describes the annualSpecial Olympics Basketball Tournament hosted by SLS. Thelast tournament held in March 20ll included over 75 specialOlympian athletes playing a total of 14 games.

“There are somany reasons to be inspired by this SpecialOlympics event,”Kate Parker-Burgard, the CFL’s Director ofCharacter Education noted,“starting with the commitment ofour student volunteers.”The Student Service Board of studentleaders organizes the basketball event every spring and helpsrecruit volunteers. SLS spring varsity coaches also supportthe tournament by cancelling practices so that their teamscan be on hand to support the visiting players.

Many Saturday mornings during the school year, you will findSheetal student teaching at the Fairfield Math Club. The clubwas started by students for students. Their mission is toprepare members for nationally acclaimedmath contests andhelp raise money for community charities. Over the years,Sheetal moved fromMath Club student to teacher and nowobserves: “It is such a pleasure to develop relationships withso many of the kids–and see them respond and get excited,and feel so proud of themselves.”

Margot Stluka is attendingGettysburg College. This summer,Margotwas selected for the school’s prestigious social justiceinternship. She elected to go to Ugandawhere she joined the KitovuMobile Aids Organizationworkingwith HIV positive orphans:

“I learnedmore about the‘real world’ (in Uganda) in twoweeksthan I have in the last 20 years. Just seeing how oblivious I was tosuch simple things as hot water, power, healthcare, and food to eat.It is quite amazing how easy it is to pretend that poor people don’texist. I know the images fromUgandawill remain as constantreminders of the reality of the world andmost of its people. I amforever grateful for the opportunity to see, live, and learn fromculturally strong and independent Ugandans. These people arereally trying to change their lives, evenwith all odds against them,and are in turn changing all of ours!"

Every year, St. Luke’s seniors embrace Midnight Run’s central themeof sharing and caring as they collect, organize and distribute asmuch warm clothing, personal care items and food goods asthey can gather for two weeks. The senior class makes treks intoNewYork City where they seek out homeless individuals in need ofthe goods shared by the SLS community. US Health andWellnessCoordinator Camille DeMarco-Havens is the chief organizer of ourMidnight Run: “The students wish they could domore but I tell themeven one day of kindness means so much.”

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Editor: Nancy TroegerProduction Director: Jane AhrensPhotography Director: Desirée SmockDesign: Peapod Design12/2011/#5/Service Learning