A Season of Giving, A Community of Care
‘It’s the Most Adoptable Time of the Year’ for the Animal Protection Society of Durham
The second grade has built a heartwarming partnership with the Animal Protection Society (APS) of Durham through a series of creative and compassionate initiatives designed to support animals and encourage adoptions. From making cat toys, dog treats and colorful adoption posters on Unity Day to creating bookmarks with student artwork and QR codes for APS during the Bow Wow Meow Bash, these young advocates are spreading awareness throughout the community. This year, second graders added a festive twist with their “It’s the Most Adoptable Time of the Year” project — a joyful video performance aimed at inspiring families to give pets their fur-ever homes. Through food drives, handmade treats and outreach efforts, the second grade is proving that even the smallest hands can make a big difference for animals in need.
Watch the video and sing along!
Upper School Students Share Their Holiday Spirit
'Tis the season for sharing holiday spirit, and the Upper School did just that with their annual Share Your Holiday effort in collaboration with the Triangle Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership Center. Forty advisories were tasked with holiday wish lists to benefit 45 individuals from 19 families across the Triangle. The Upper Schoolers purchased gift cards, selected presents and designed holiday cards with care before it was all collected and delivered to the collection site at Yates Mill Baptist Church on Dec. 11.
On wrapping day, the holiday fun was felt all around the Upper School campus. The smell of warm brownies permeated Hana Baskin and Paula Marr’s advisory classroom — the perfect atmosphere to get students in the holiday spirit. Adam Cluff’s advisory took careful care to ensure the wrapping paper concealed the goods inside, while Shannon Harris’s crew expertly crafted holiday cards in the beautiful morning light of the library.
The magic was organized by “Hanukkah Harry” (Michael Meyer) and “Elfis” (William Edwards), who have delivered DA’s Share Your Holiday gifts for 22 years! Additional gifts were provided by former faculty, including Anne McNamara, Dennis Cullen, Trish Whiting, Jordan Adair, Jim and Wendy Speir and Steve and Teresa Engebretsen.
The Preschool and Middle School Spread Good Cheer with Food Drive
The seventh grade’s year-opening experience highlights an all-too-common reality: Members of our local community and communities around the world face food insecurity and hunger every day. Moved by what they learned, a group of seventh graders from Mike Schollmeyer’s advisory sought to do something about it — and four months later, their efforts have resulted in the Middle School and Preschool coming together to collect hundreds of pounds of nonperishable food.
Back in August, the seventh grade service learning experience included hearing from Durham County’s food security director and a “hunger meal” to demonstrate the realities of food insecurity. In their culminating service project, seventh-graders partnered with Urban Ministries of Durham, Urban Communities AgriNomics, Transplanting Traditions, Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and Walker Farm of Hillsborough to serve a meal for 250 community members, preparing food planting sites and sorting food supplies.
Influenced by that experience, Maya Bhowmick ’31, Sophie Tan ‘31, Maddy Misuraca ’31 and Kalyani Mettu ’31 were inspired to organize a Middle School and Preschool food drive benefiting Urban Ministries of Durham. From planning to collecting donations, these students have dedicated countless recess periods to the project — including time recording a video to share the importance of participation for the Preschool. Preschoolers and their families responded with a groundswell of support — bringing in bags upon bags filled with canned and non-perishable goods. Want to join in? The drive runs through the end of the day, and you can drop off items outside Dr. Theresa Shebalin’s classroom in the Preschool.
First Graders Fill Ronald McDonald House Van with Supplies
For decades, DA’s first grade has partnered with the Ronald McDonald House for service learning throughout the school year — from collecting pop-tabs to creating holiday decorations. This holiday season, first graders invited the entire Lower School to join in their “Fill the Van” effort in support of the families who are staying at RMH while their children are receiving care at Duke Children’s Hospital.
Families donated food and snacks (from granola bars and coffee pods, to juice boxes and crackers); household supplies (like paper towels and cleaning supplies); and personal care items (including body lotion, diapers and hygiene kits) over the last few weeks. On Wednesday, first graders — with their arms full of donations — lined up to put the items in a Ronald McDonald House van outside the Preschool/Lower School front entrance. Van — and hearts — filled, indeed.