While most of the country had the day off on Monday, January 20, 2020, the Storm King School grounds were buzzing with activity. For the eighth consecutive year, our students and faculty commemorated Martin Luther King Day by learning about Dr. King’s legacy, helping to improve our campus, and serving various good causes in the local community.

The day began with an All School Meeting where members of the BLSU and NHS gave a presentation about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and talked about his important role in the history of our nation. After a short question and answer session, the students departed for various volunteer activities they had signed up for both on and off-campus.

“We are grateful for the volunteer work of SKS’ students on MLK Day. We are now closer to being able to use those furnishings in our Moretti Education Center.”

-Bill Schuster, Executive Director at Black Rock Forest Consortium

This year, students had the chance to work for many great causes, including Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, the Food Bank of The Hudson Valley, and the Good Shepherd Soup Kitchen – an organization that provides hot meals to those in need. Others helped our neighbor Black Rock Forest Consortium set up their education center for upcoming programs by cleaning and rearranging furniture and organizing the room. Yet another group braved the cold as they helped to clear branches on the grounds of the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum. Some of our musically-talented students also traveled to the New Windsor Country Inn to entertain senior citizens living there.

NHS and BLSU members organized a clothing and shoe drive in the Smidt Room

Various campus improvement and cleanup activities were also running throughout the day in Orr Commons, the art center and the theater, and while all this was going on ‘Mrs. G’ [Graziosi] was busy with the New York Blood Center heading this year’s blood drive in the gymnasium.

“Let me thank SKS and the students and teachers for their work on MLK Day. We got SO MUCH done and it was a pleasure to work side by side with everyone from SKS.  We look forward to having SKS again next year!”

-Tom Bregman, Executive Director at the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum

In the chemistry lab, students were busy writing letters to servicemen and women stationed overseas for Operation Gratitude, others were working in the greenhouse, painting the walls and cleaning the workspaces in the art center, and building the set for our upcoming winter musical in the theater. In Orr Commons, SKS’ Black and Latino Student Union (BLSU) and National Honor Society teamed up to run a clothing and shoe drive to benefit Soles4Souls and other organizations that help the homeless and students made dumplings and stuffed envelopes in preparation for the Chinese New Year.

The numbers this year are impressive. On campus, the clothing drive collected more than 20 bags of clothing and more than 100 pairs of shoes; over 830 feet of wall space in the art center was painted by the students in 4 different colors; 275 letters were written for Operation Gratitude; about 400 dumplings were made and 200 envelopes were stuffed in the dining hall; and 47 units of blood were collected, enough to save nearly 1,000 lives. Keep up the good work Storm King!

“Angelica [Centeno] and the group of students you sent were awesome. We got a lot of sorting done, which was sorely needed: Clothing, foodstuffs, other donations. And we now have clean refrigerators! Many thanks!”

-Donna Gandolfini, Good Shepherd Soup Kitchen