Teaching giving
The list of service projects – 26 so far this school year – says it all. Students at Mount Moriah Christian School in Smithfield are learning lessons that go beyond reading, writing and arithmetic.
“Our whole emphasis is on respect and responsibility. That’s our mission for this year,’ said Renee DuBois, principal and second-grade teacher. “We wanted the kids to understand that this has to be about giving. It just can’t be about getting.’
Mount Moriah, based in Mount Moriah Baptist Church, includes about 100 students in preschool through fifth grade. The preschool has been in existence for more than 20 years and other grades were added one at a time, starting seven years ago.
Mount Moriah students participate in service projects all through the school year, helping individuals and organizations throughout the region. They extend their reach because the students don’t just come from Smithfield. DuBois noted the students are from Albert Gallatin, Uniontown, Laurel Highlands and Southeastern Greene school districts.
“We represent the community at large – not just Smithfield – because we are from all these areas,’ DuBois noted.
And their work goes beyond these borders. The students also give to hospitals in Morgantown, W.Va.; the American Heart Association; U.S. soldiers in Iraq; and children around the world through Operation Christmas Child, a mission of Samaritan’s Purse that delivers presents to children in desperate situations such as poverty, famine and flood.
“We’re proud of our school,’ said DuBois. “We’ve been able to incorporate education while we do mission projects and that’s what makes it work.’
Take, for example, the students’ latest involvement in the American Heart Association’s annual Jump-A-Thon, during which students raise money by jumping rope for the organization.
“They raise money to help people with sick hearts and we want them to learn about the heart and heart-healthy lifestyles,’ said Stacey Robinson of Springhill Township, a volunteer whose sons are students at Mount Moriah: Luke is in kindergarten and Eli is in preschool.
Not just earnest about their education, the students also are serious to their commitment to the American Heart Association. They raised $2,000 for the Jump-A-Thon last year.
Robinson volunteers with her sister Patty Martin, also of Springhill Township, whose daughter Patsy is in first grade at Mount Moriah. Both women, who are nurses and involved with the Jump-A-Thon, are impressed with the school.
“They teach compassion,’ said Martin. “They do prayer circles every day and if anyone is sick or having a tough time, they pray for that person and their family. Whenever the fire whistle blows, they stop whatever they’re doing and pray.’
Art teachers Carolyn Quinn of Chalk Hill and Laura DeLuca of Dilliner also are volunteers and parents of students. Quinn’s son Justin is in first grade and DeLuca’s son Dominic is in second grade.
Among the projects the art teachers have done with the students is to paint large murals on banners that became presents for Mount Moriah Baptist Church and White Swan Apartments in Uniontown. They included a winter scene that featured snowmen and an inspirational saying with a student-painted border of snowflakes. Another mural included an autumn scene of a tree with MMCS carved into the trunk and falling colored leaves that were made from handprints of the students.
“We definitely had them involved from the get-go,’ said DeLuca. “They watched as we laid it out and did hands-on, literally. They did their own print blocks. They did all the snowflake prints and stuck them on and painted them. They seem really glad to do it.’
Both art teachers also are fans of the school. Quinn listed reasons, including that the school is Christian-centered, biblically based with dedicated teachers and advanced academics.
Speaking of the service projects, she said, “I think it’s important that they learn to give to others and think of others.’
Other projects include making bookmarks and pins for Mount Moriah Sunday school classes. Each one sponsors a grade at the school. The students made cards for their own pastors for Pastor Appreciation Day. They also made pictures and thank-you cards for the Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department and eight “Community Helpers,’ people who give of themselves to the community. The children also filled a 20-gallon bucket with snack items for the fire department.
The students made and filled treat bags for Bus Driver Appreciation Day and filled treat bags in appreciation for the nurses at Beverly Health Care.
“So often, people do things for the residents and we thought it would be nice to do things for the nurses,’ said DuBois.
They decorated bags and Thanksgiving placemats to be used by Meals on Wheels, operated by Fayette County Community Action. They made a get-well booklet for a student whose mother was seriously ill and continue to help the family.
The students sent pictures and items, including candy, to servicemen in Iraq inspired when the brother of kindergarten teacher Diane Kalafsky was sent there.
“In November for Veterans Day, we made thank-you cards and sent them to his unit,’ said Kalafsky. “Today, we’re going to make valentines and send them to Veterans Hospital in Pittsburgh. I think it’s great. It gets the kids to understand there’s more than themselves. And I think it makes them feel good.’
Mount Moriah students made 100 valentine cards to send to shut-ins throughout the community. They collected canned goods for the local food pantry and did odd jobs around their houses to earn money to donate to the Salvation Army. They made 40 scarves and 36 fleece blankets for Children’s Hospital at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. They’ve washed walls in their own school.
They sent Thanksgiving food to the local women’s shelter. They collected shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. They made angel ornaments for the Christmas tree project at Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown and collected crayons and coloring books for children who are patients at the hospital.
DuBois said, “A lot of these projects come about because of where the parents work or are involved. … It doesn’t surprise you because, when you have parents who give, the children want to give.’
Mount Moriah students keep track of their mission projects by recording them on red paper apples that are hung on a school wall. Each class does at least one mission project a month.
The school does a project every two or three months and they participate in a yearlong project by collecting pennies over the school year for an organization, turning the money over at the end of each month. So far this school year, the students have raised $540.35 for Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of Fayette Inc.
“Some children have been so benevolent, they donate money from birthdays and their teeth,’ said DuBois.
The students have fun with this project, turning it into a competition to see who can raise the most money.
But DuBois noted, “The benefit is that people in our community are being served.’
The community responds to these good works. Some send representatives, such as Carol Ashton of Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, to personally thank the students.
The children enjoy what they’re doing.
Ireland Hawk, 7, of Smithfield is a second-grade student whose favorite project was scrubbing the school walls. She said, “I like to do it because it helps other people.’
Luke Dice, 10, a fourth-grade student, said, “I like the idea of helping people.’
Among the projects he enjoyed was making treat bags for the nurses and he’s a big contributor to the fund for Interfaith Caregivers.
News about Mount Moriah’s work is spreading. DuBois noted she receives calls from people asking for contacts among organizations because the callers are doing their own service projects and don’t know where to send them.
“I think it’s a challenge to all of us in this community. We have a lot. We’ve got to give more,’ said DuBois. “When you see the excitement – the kids want to do something for someone on their own – that’s when you know it’s working and becoming a part of who they are. It’s more than academics.’
School secretary Sharon Ciprani, whose son Xavier is in kindergarten, noted the school is successful in teaching students these moral lessons because they learn when they are young.
DuBois said, “We train them to be active in their community and be leaders. We tell them all the time: be a leader not a follower. But more than telling, you’ve got to show them.’