With only two weeks to go before their graduation on June 6th at the National Cathedral, the class of 2014 has hardly rested on its laurels. Despite no longer having any academic commitments, the seniors spent the last two weeks challenging themselves through the two week Senior Community Service project. The project, which concluded on Friday May 23rd, put the 60 seniors to work volunteering at more than 20 different organizations throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

For Gregg Ponitch, the Senior Service Coordinator, the Senior Service project is a perfect way for the seniors to end their time at St. Andrew’s as it gives them the opportunity to help others while building character. “We encourage each senior to choose an organization whose mission is to serve the underserved or those in need. Our students have so much to give, and we hope that we, as a school, and their families, have helped build in them good character and the desire to do service with respect and pride,” he states.

The project, which originated with the founding of the school in 1978 and has run every year since, is a major part of the Spiritual Life pillar of the school. The Senior Service project is intended to help students understand the ethical and practical dimensions of the inequities they may encounter through service to others. Even more importantly, the goal is to help students better understand the humanity and dignity of those they help and hopefully they will more deeply appreciate their own material blessings.

Seniors are expected to have contacted an organization by April 15th to arrange for a two week voluntary assignment. Of the various projects for which the seniors are volunteering, many are working at hospitals, helping the homeless, caring for animals, maintaining trails and gardens outdoors, or volunteering with elementary aged children. The organizations that they volunteer for include The Audobon Society, Wider Circle, Head Start of Montgomery County, DC Food Bank, Animal Sanctuary, Hebrew Home, and Lisner Home. This year there are even two seniors who are working on an organic farm in Minnesota.

Each night, the seniors make contact with their senior advisor via e-mail to discuss what they had accomplished that day. On Tuesday May 27th, the seniors will return to campus to debrief with their classmates about their respective projects as well as reflect on positives and negatives of their individual experiences. In the end, each member of the class of 2014 will have completed 60 hours of community service, if not more.

“The students end up helping in ways that may not always be clear to them,” says Ponitch who also credits Chaplain Patty Alexander, who oversees community service at St. Andrew’s, with helping make the project a success. “The project, in the end, becomes a transformative one for all those involved. It sends the message to our students that serving others is an important value.”