Service Learning: Fifth Grade Students Embrace Environmental Stewardship through Lessons on Composting

What can you make with grass clippings, fallen leaves, paper shreds, and fruit and vegetable scraps? This week, Fifth Grade students collected organic materials from around campus to begin making their own jars of compost as part of their service learning focus on environmental stewardship.

Additional Middle School Service Learning projects that kicked off this week include:

• Sixth Grade: Embracing what it means to be part of an inclusive community and practicing acts of care for older residents at Cambridge Rehabilitation Healthcare Center
• Seventh Grade: Focusing on how harmful plastics end up in the ocean and how to prevent water pollution, with a planned river cleanup at Palmyra Cove in the Spring
• Eighth Grade: Learning about food insecurity and making snacks that can be donated to Cathedral Kitchen

The MFS Service Learning Program extends from grades Preschool through 12th Grade, offering students the opportunity to build cross-divisional relationships and connections with the wider community through planning, completing, and reflecting on various service learning projects and activities. By integrating service learning into curriculum and wider school programs, students are provided with the groundwork to develop a sense of responsibility for their community, as well as the process for building those connections.

For additional photos from Fifth Grade student composting, click here.