Every year students at The Storm King School have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a two-week intensive course called a Q-Term. This unique learning experience allows students to get an in-depth look at a specific topic. It also facilitates Place Based Learning by making it much easier for the teachers to get their students out of the classroom and into the community for hands on activities.

 

 

Last spring, a group of SKS students chose to participate in a Q-Term called The Joy of Service. Their goal was to go beyond the normal “drive-by” service work and to connect with our local community and ENJOY the newly established relationships. 

 

 

For two weeks, students served the public in a variety of ways. They planted trees in Black Rock Forest, and learned about the importance of removing invasive species. They worked in a warehouse at the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, sorting donations and learning about food distribution and the ways food banks operate.

 

 

They spent time with senior citizens at the New Windsor Country Inn; playing trivia and pampering residents with manicures. They also organized an Operation Gratitude, where they wrote thank-you notes and delivered homemade cupcakes to servicemen and women of our Armed Forced.

 

 

By the conclusion of their two-week course, the students began to understand how connected we all are, no matter our lot in life. They experienced the joy in giving, and discovered that the more they gave of themselves the more they found of themselves . . .