Hawthorne Elementary and Westminster College team up for community service day

Hawthorne Elementary School and Westminster College recently joined forces to maximize their impact on several nonprofit organizations throughout Salt Lake City.

During the “Day of Service and Learning,” on Oct. 7, students from both schools worked side-by-side, making blankets and cards for the Ronald McDonald House, dog biscuits for No More Homeless Pets in Utah, wreaths for the Festival of Trees, crafts for Primary Children’s Hospital, flower arrangements for the Sarah Daft House senior home, decorated boxes (filled with food) for the Utah Food Bank, and more. The day was originally intended for Westminster students to do service for Hawthorne, but Principal Marian Broadhead wanted her students to have the chance to help others too.

“A lot of these kids, they had no idea what a service day was,” Hawthorne Volunteer Coordinator Kathy Harvey said. “It helped them see outside the ‘me’ world.”

Participating in the Day of Service and Learning was a huge revelation to the Hawthorne students because they found out that even though they are small, they can make a big difference in someone else’s life, Harvey said.

Tasi Fifita and Kaprielle Veroni’s fourth grade class tied fleece blankets for the Ronald McDonald House, a temporary residence for families of Primary Children’s patients.

“If they live far away, they can stay there,” Kaprielle said.

The blankets will help keep the kids warm while they are staying there, Tasi said.

“Where much is given, much is required” is the class motto Leslie Edwards teaches her third grade gifted students, who mixed, rolled and cut the dog biscuits. The project was a great beginning to the year for them, and helped teach them to use their abilities to benefit their community, whether it’s their school, neighborhood or the world, she said.

The joint service day was also a positive experience for the Westminster students. In addition to guiding their new young friends through the service projects, some of them gave special science lessons. Students from Westminster’s Great Salt Lake Institute taught about the lake and did related experiments with some of the Hawthorne students, and aviation students taught others about airplanes and some basic physics.

“Hawthorne is our closest partner,” said Julie Tille, director of the college’s Center for Civic Engagement.

The two schools have been participating together in “America Reads,” a national reading and math tutoring program, for 12 years now.

“We feel really comfortable sending our students here, knowing they’ll have a great learning experience,” Tille said.