The Christ School, a K-8 interdenominational Christian School, delivers its mission of “scholarship, service, and leadership” not only to its students, but also to the poorest and neediest of its community. Hoping to bring awareness of their unique community service efforts in downtown Orlando, Head of School Dr. Jason Powell contacted our chief editor via Twitter for the opportunity to be featured as our school spotlight. We're thrilled to share how The Christ School delivers its mission of service in the heart of the city.
Dr. Powell arrived at The Christ School in 2006 after an illustrious career as a public educator, culminating in the implementation of a school choice policy for the 10th largest school district in the U.S. The school’s “independent, Christian nature” and mission drew him to leave the public sector to become the new School Head. “I had a lot to learn,” Dr. Powell confessed, “and I still learn a lot today. I love this role because it feeds my interest in education, ministry, and small business.”
The Christ School’s execution of its service mission has shone during Dr. Powell's tenure. During our interview, he emphasized that the school’s service focus stems from its religious roots, particularly in the school’s drive to serve those who have the greatest need:
“We believe that the foundational years of childhood present a wide-open window for instilling a heart for service in children. Furthermore, we know the benefit of hands-on learning. As St. Francis of Assisi said, and we agree, ‘preach the gospel and when necessary, use words.’
“We are all self-centered people—that is human nature. We at The Christ School want to be part of shaping a focus beyond self. This is eternally important work, is core to who we are, and it is a privilege. This is our mission, our purpose for being as a school.
“It is our hope that our actions will be louder than our words, and that our students’ service through their nine-year journey [at The Christ School] will instill the love of Christ in their hearts and make an impact on our community.”
Students participate in several service projects through their years at The Christ School, including serving with a local homeless-assistance organization, baking hot cross buns at Eastertime to help those less fortunate to celebrate the holy holiday, and even singing Christmas carols for residents at local nursing homes. In addition to service coordinated through the school, students in middle school must complete a certain number of service hours on their own time, up to 10 hours by the time their matriculation date comes around.
But Dr. Powell said that the biggest and best service tradition comes in the form of The Christ School’s One Great Day of Service. Everyone—administrators, staff, teachers, parents, and students alike—all scatter into the Central Florida community, spending the entire day helping someone other than themselves. Last year, students served at:
- First Presbyterian Church of Orlando—cleaning and preparing gift bags for the maintenance workers on campus
- Green Up Orlando—planting flowers and weeding Azalea Park
- Orlando Health and Rehab—visiting with patients, planting flowers, and making crafts with the residents
- Society of St. Andrew—gleaning the fields of corn
- House of Hope—cleaning and gardening
- Matthew's Hope—gardening and doing other projects inside
- Canine Companions—cleaning, light gardening, maintenance
- Harvest Time International—sorting items that will be distributed to families in need
- Equine Angels—cleaning and helping to maintain the facility
Such a huge list of organizations means an equally monumental organizational effort. Dr. Powell freely admits that the One Great Day of Service could never happen if it weren’t for the dedicated teachers, parents, and volunteers who reach out to community leaders and facilities to ask about whether they’d welcome a small mob of children—and whether they have sufficient work to keep eager hands busy for a day.
“In the past,” he said, “we’ve occasionally had a lot of children descend on one place that wasn’t quite ready to receive so many, or that couldn’t give them impactful work to complete. Our volunteers now make sure that [mixup] doesn’t happen.”
The students’ safety during an event like this also requires a ton of work and care before one step is taken off-campus. “We train our teachers, give our chaperones direction and we require criminal background checks (fingerprint check with FBI and FDLE) for any employees or volunteers who chaperone our students,” Dr. Powell said. “We also carry the appropriate insurance coverage, and name places we serve as additionally insured if required by [the] policies.”
One Great Day of Service has a dual purpose, Dr. Powell told us. First, it provides “much needed volunteer services” for the community. It also “enhances [the students’] own education experience by learning more about the community in which they live.”
One of those moments happens when second-graders read to the elderly in a downtown senior care facility, which Dr. Powell shared with us:
“It’s my belief that the best service happens when children interact with people directly. At Westminster Care [the senior care facility], it starts out awkwardly; the kids are scared when they first go in. Many haven’t ever seen someone in that stage of life before. It’s really powerful to watch them open up and begin to read to the seniors. [The adults] are just starving for attention. Many of them have families, but life’s busy and they may not come as often as they’d like to visit. The whole room just comes alive during these sessions.
“It’s just people loving people.”
In the end, that’s what the One Great Day of Service is all about: finding a way to celebrate the school’s dedication to its founding mission and vision by helping out those who need it most in the local community.
For those who would like to start similar programs at their own schools, Dr. Powell had the following recommendations:
“Don’t aim for perfection. Target one area, start small, and experience the victory and benefits. Be strategic about teachers, students, and parents to involve in a start-up initiative [like a large community service program]. Position them to have a victory, watch the momentum, and nurture it. Don’t do it for pride or recognition.
“Watch the children and the human interaction when serving, and you may get a glimpse of the kingdom of God.”
ISM will feature a new school each month to share stories of student, programmatic, and administrative success with nearly 30,000 private school administrators every month. If your school has a success story you'd like the world to hear, contact our e-letter editor!
Additional ISM resources:
Private School News Vol. 14 No. 5 School Spotlight: Private School Student Proves "Irish Need Not Apply" Signs Existed
Private School News Vol. 14 No. 1 School Spotlight: An English Teacher's Odyssey
Private School News Vol. 13 No. 11 School Spotlight: Malvern's Dedication to Professional Development
Private School News Vol. 13 No. 10 School Spotlight: St. Margeret's Lives its Mission Through edX MOOCs
Private School News Vol. 13 No. 9 School Spotlight: Valley Christian's "I Am a Warrior" Campaign
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 38 No. 5 Community Service and Student Learning: Designing a Successful Program
I&P Vol. 27 No. 7 Community Service: Taking It to the Street
I&P Vol. 27 No. 5 The Head's Role in Your School's Community Service Program
