The spirit of giving back was alive and well as The Storm King School commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 15, 2024. While most of the nation had the day off, our students and faculty were busy learning about Dr. King’s legacy and volunteering for causes benefiting the local community. This year, SKS racked up nearly 700 hours of service on this special day.
The day’s program began with half of the student body watching and discussing a documentary video while the other half volunteered for various service activities. After lunch, the groups switched places so all students had the chance to participate in both the video and discussion, and a service activity.
‘During the discussion sessions, students watched ‘Eyes on the Prize – Bridge to Freedom 1965,’ a documentary about the historic 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. After the video, the groups answered questions about the events and discussed how they reflect on society and civil rights today. Students and faculty alike were engaged with the materials, many commenting that the exercise helped them learn more about Dr. King’s legacy and the history behind the civil rights movement.
For their half-day of service, students participated in various on and off campus activities. For example, some traveled to the Newburgh Armory to help the staff organize supply closets and donated clothing. Others withstood chilly temperatures in Black Rock Forest and at the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum to remove invasive species. Other off campus activities included trips to visit senior citizens at the New Windsor Country Inn, help rescued pets at the Hudson Valley SPCA, and organize food prep and storage areas at a local soup kitchen.
On campus, Orr Commons was buzzing with activity. In the Smidt Conference Room, the Black Student Union (BSU) held their annual clothing drive, collecting 10 bags of clothing throughout the day for donation to La Iglesia Del Buen Pastor Soup Kitchen. In the dining hall, students were busy writing more than 100 letters of support to cancer patients for Amy’s Ray of Sunshine.
Throughout the day, there were also various clean-up activities running in the gym, art center, theater, and Ogden Hall. While all this was going on, Mrs. Shrem and Mrs. Centeno were busy heading this year’s New York Blood Center blood drive in the gymnasium. With the help of several students and all of the donors who volunteered, 61 pints of blood were collected–the highest record to date for Storm King and enough to save approximately 183 lives.
Head of School Jonathan Lamb was very pleased with the enthusiasm and effort put in by the entire community. “Both students and faculty really stepped up and worked in the spirit of the day. Everyone did a great job, had fun doing it, and their work really made a difference,” he explained. That same feeling was shared by all who participated, making Storm King’s MLK Jr. Day of Service a great success once again this year.
