This semester, second graders are learning more about the people on campus who make The Steward School a warm, welcoming place to learn. With paper and pencil in hand, they are engaged in a Community Appreciation Project, interviewing staff and faculty about their job duties and responsibilities. Along the way, these young Spartans are making meaningful connections with others as they deepen their understanding of the world around them.   

The Community Appreciation Project began after students in Second Grade Teacher Kristen Minster’s class had a character education lesson taught by Rashad Lowery (coordinator of campus life and community stewardship). During the lesson, Mr. Lowery talked about the importance of caring for the environment and picking up litter. 

“Afterward, my students and I picked up some trash around the Lower School playground,” said Ms. Minster. A few days later, with campus maps and clipboards in hand, they again walked around campus, and students made note of where they noticed litter. “They realized that Steward has many clean areas with very little trash,” said Ms. Minster. “Those observations led our conversation toward appreciating the people who help us keep our campus clean: the maintenance and cleaning staff!”

On a recent spring day, Ms. Minster’s students were joined by the other second-grade classes and their teachers, Lisa Moore and Lyn Lunsford. The students interviewed maintenance staff members Matt Blackwell (plant operations), Brandon Cassell (plant operations), Chad Montgomery (director of plant operations), and Martha Villavicencio (housekeeping supervisor), asking them questions in English and Spanish: What is your name? How long have you been working at Steward? What is your job? How can we help you keep the School clean?  Students wrote the interviewees’ answers down in both languages, and Lower School Spanish Teacher Jen Blanco used a large dry-erase board to record the answers. 

The students are currently at work on a design challenge to create posters as tokens of appreciation for the interviewees. They’ll design their posters under the guidance of Lower School Innovation Specialist Suzanne Casey, who teaches engineering.  

“We learned so much about the complex jobs that staff in our maintenance department perform,” said Ms. Minster, noting that second-graders will continue their Community Appreciation Project in the coming weeks. “As we told the staff, our students will do their part to help keep our lovely School community clean!” She added, “We are also grateful to Ms. Blanco for helping facilitate this experience. Our students did a fabulous job asking questions and writing the answers in Spanish.”