For more than a decade Bretton Woods Elementary School’s Community Service Club members have participated in various activities designed to make a difference in their community. Almost each week during the school year, Teachers and Co-Advisers Barbara Leventhal and Angela Carpinone accompany approximately 60 fourth and fifth grade students from Bretton Woods to The Arbors at Islandia East – an adult home in Islandia – to read, write and converse with the residents.
The students are divided into small groups and spend about an hour with the same senior resident or group of residents. “Everlasting bonds are formed, and respect and appreciation between the groups flourish,” stated Leventhal. “Many times the relationship between the student and the resident grows to the point that contact outside the formal environment occurs.” According to fifth-grade student Sofia, “I like community service because I like to read books to the residents; but my favorite part of all is to see them smile and to keep them company!”
This intergenerational interaction produces many additional benefits, including serving as a living history lesson for the youngsters. Historical events, such as Jackie Robinson’s entry into baseball and World War II, are brought to life in a way that no history book can compare. The students recently learned about Pearl Harbor in school and were mesmerized by one of the residents who landed on the beach in Normandy, France in June of 1944. “The Bretton Woods Community Service Club members have come to understand the importance of time,” described Carpinone. “The students have learned that what we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others remains forever.”
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Interestingly, research has shown that young people who are involved in service programs are less likely to be engaged in destructive social behavior, their dropout rate is lower, and they achieve higher grades in school. “Through our community service program, these students also have learned tolerance for others,” said Leventhal. “Since its inception 16 years ago, this program has become extremely popular and enormously welcomed in the school and in the community.”
