Each year, students at John A. Carusi Middle School in Cherry Hill, NJ, participate in the Carusi CARES Martin Luther King Jr. Week of Service. It brings together our students in grades six through eight for a series of events aimed at helping the less fortunate in the local community. Working after school, our student volunteers collect, organize, and donate essential items to local organizations. We typically have more than 150 students help out—about a quarter of our school population—including all the members of our National Junior Honor Society (NJHS).
Each day focuses on a different charity. In the past, we have provided more than 1,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the Cathedral Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that serves meals to those in need. This year, per their request, we are putting together birthday cake kits instead, which include a box of cake mix, icing, and soda so families that can’t afford all the ingredients can still make a cake at home. During this week of service, we are also working with the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey to provide non-perishable snack packs to families whose children are in hospitals in the Camden and Philadelphia area. On Thursday, we will provide toiletries to Unforgotten Haven, an organization that helps people experiencing homelessness in South Jersey. To wind up the week on Friday, we will gather any extra donations or items that didn’t fit in the different kits and donate them to the Cherry Hill Food Pantry.
Photos courtesy of Bridget Schaeffer.
This marks the eighth year Carusi has organized the week of service, which has been nationally recognized as a promising practice by Character.org. Although I now work in our district’s central office, I had the pleasure of overseeing this week of service for the past five years as principal of Carusi. Principal Christina Collazo-Franco and teacher leaders Bridget Schaeffer and Connie Spencer have seamlessly taken over supervising the project. That includes incorporating an educational component—which students help put together—that teaches them about Martin Luther King Jr.’s focus on the importance of service. This week involves not only our students, but also our families and our staff. It really unites us all, which is another piece of Dr. King’s legacy.
Beyond the obvious benefits to the community, the week of service allows us to bring together three of our board of education goals. It helps students connect beyond the classroom, follow their purpose and explore their passion, and focus directly on community wellness. Ultimately, we believe that service to others is service to ourselves.
Our NJS members are required to participate, and the project really ties in with the program’s pillars of scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship. But the project attracts many other students throughout our school as well. In fact, so many students typically volunteer to participate that we ask them to help on just one of the days so that everyone has a chance to be involved.
The week of service has been a profound success for our school and our community. It demonstrates the power of student-led service projects to inspire civic engagement and foster empathy. This event not only benefits the community but also enriches our students’ educational experience, leaving a lasting impact on everyone involved.
