Pace Academy Students Take the Day Off to Serve Others

(L-R) Richard Ellis, Sammy Lettes and Miles Marks play puppets with children at the Easter Seals’ Guice Center during Pace Academy’s Freshman Service Day.

Staff Report

Pace Academy’s mission is to create prepared, confident citizens of the world – students who THINK BIG about their impact on their school, on others and on the greater community.

To that end, on Oct. 15, the ninth-grade class, accompanied by Pace faculty and staff, headed off campus for the fifth annual Freshman Service Day. Students volunteered at four local nonprofit organizations: the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s Product Rescue Center, the Easter Seals’ Guice Center and Sylvan Hills Center and the Homeless Pets Foundation. They sorted and packed food, facilitated games and activities for young children and assisted with other projects.

Now an initiative of Pace’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership, Freshman Service Day is also part of the school’s Transitions program, which helps ninth-grade students successfully navigate the move to the Upper School. Freshmen and faculty advisors meet in small groups throughout the year to discuss a wide range of topics, including academics and social and emotional concerns.

Freshman Service Day introduces service as a key component of a Pace education in the hopes that freshmen will become involved with Pace’s many community partners early in their high-school careers. To learn more about the Isdell Center for Global Leadership, visit www.paceacademy.org/icgl.