Local Eighth Graders Lend a Hand Around Acton

Some rolled up their sleeves last Friday to pitch in at various community service sites in the two towns, performing a variety of outdoor tasks designed to help them help their communities.

A crisp, nearly cloudless fall day provided the backdrop for the students in R.J. Grey Junior High School’s 8 Green block, about a quarter of the school’s eighth graders, to work at a range of 12 sites that included the , , the and the Acton Arboretum.

The community service day was started by 8 Green science teacher Allen Warner, who said he was inspired after a project he volunteered on some years ago made him consider “how much work there is to be done” around town.

“(Considering) the town spends $12,000 on each child’s education, I tell the kids they have two responsibilities—to do the best they can in school and to give back to the community,” said Warner. “This is a small way they can give back, and so many of the kids get so much out of it.”

At the T.J. O’Grady Skate Park, a group of nine kids raked and cleared debris and trash. Their supervisor, social studies teacher Susan Heartlein, praised the kids’ industriousness and said the “perfect weather” gave them all a reason to smile while they did their part.

“They’re working really hard and no one’s complained at all,” said Heartlein.

Nan Towle-Millett, site supervisor at the Faulkner Homestead, called the kids’ contributions there of spreading mulch, planting, collecting brush and more “a godsend,” adding that that particular assignment had the added bonus of teaching the students about Acton’s oldest structure.

“They’re asking a lot of great questions and really working well together,” agreed Bruce Sabot, chaperone at the Faulkner site.

For their part, students gamely participated in their assigned tasks and said they were happy to have a way to give back to their communities.

“It feels good to help clean up our community,” said Melissa Capland, a skate park volunteer. “We all have to help take care of it.”

Joshua Gilbert, who volunteered at the Acton Arboretum, said he’s taken part in a variety of community service projects during the past several years and that such efforts are “fun, they give you something to do and they make you feel better for helping.”

And while only students in 8 Green participated in the day, R.J. Grey principal Craig Hardimon said such efforts are a cornerstone of the school’s philosophy and that all students are asked to take part in various efforts during their time at the school.

“We really stress active citizenship here—what’s your role in the community? What’s your role in the school? We do a lot of community service projects … every year we collect food for the Acton food pantry, to recognize that in our own community, there are people who need assistance,” said Hardimon . “And if we have the time and the means, we have an obligation to help … as much as we want them to be aware of their own learning and their own importance and their role in the world, there are other people out there, and how can they help society?”