Oak Knoll students aid flood-ravaged community during journey to Appalachia

SUMMIT, NJ, August 10, 2015 – Students from Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child recently put words and belief into action by serving those less fortunate during a week-long service trip to Appalachia.

Five Oak Knoll students journeyed to the poverty-stricken region of eastern Kentucky from July 26 to August 1 in the school’s first solo service trip to Appalachia. In previous years, Oak Knoll students traveled to Appalachia with students from the Delbarton School.

Stacy Nolan, theology teacher at Oak Knoll, accompanied the students as they completed a variety of service projects, including repairing a damaged home, visiting seniors in an assisted-living facility and working at a local food bank.

“Through their service the students reflected the core values of the Oak Knoll School while demonstrating all they’ve learned about the importance of service and outreach,” Ms. Nolan said.

The experience set itself apart from other service, as students embraced getting to know the people they were serving.

“The students maintained an impressive balance between completing work projects and getting to know the people we served,” Ms. Nolan said. “ I truly believe that this is what rounded out the experience.”

Ms. Nolan said the balance was never on better display than when students visited a disaster relief center set up after flash floods ravaged the community.

“The girls walked up and down the aisles of the distribution center assisting the families as they gathered supplies and food,” Ms. Nolan said. “Some of the most impressionable moments came from the conversations they had with the families.”

Oak Knoll students also provided some much-needed TLC to a home by staining the deck, fixing gutters, repairing a bathroom ceiling. Other repairs the girls undertook included staining and sealing the home’s front porch and overhangs.

The students then visited a nursing home and spent some quality time with residents by playing board games with them and chatting while painting their nails.

The girls, who stayed at the Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center in Louisa, Kentucky, during their stay, also sorted through donated items that would be sold with proceeds benefitting local services.

Carmen Ruiz ‘16, of Wharton, who was on her first trip to Appalachia, said it was a truly eye-opening experience.

“It was hard for me to accept the fact that only a day’s drive from my home we would find such destitute poverty,” she said. “I think this trip changed the way I view the reality of poverty. Poverty does not exist in the same exact way from place to place.”

As Ms. Nolan suggested, Ruiz said it was just as gratifying, if not more so, to interact with the people the students were helping, including the family whose home they repaired.

“Completing the various house repairs gave us all a sense of accomplishment, but the opportunity to talk and get to know the family we were serving truly made the most impact. Their kindness, hospitality and welcoming attitudes made the project infinitely more rewarding,” she said.

While the journey to eastern Kentucky was not Ruiz’s first service trip, she acknowledged the lessons learned at Oak Knoll helped prepare her this time.

“Oak Knoll always stresses the importance of articulating our words and beliefs into actions that make a difference,” she said. “Oak Knoll prepares us to be active members of our community and abroad.”

Other students who participated include Nathalie Beauchamps ’17, of Randolph, Allison Palmeri ’17, of Franklin Lakes, Tara Halter ’16, of Springfield, and Sarah-Jane Matthews’ 16, of Chatham.

Accompanying the students were Ms. Nolan and Erin Traynor, Upper School history and theology teacher.

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child is an independent, Catholic school, coeducational in elementary school from kindergarten through grade six; and all-girls in middle and high school from grades seven through 12. For more information about Oak Knoll, please visit www.oakknoll.org or call 908-522-8109.