Upper School Intensive Learning Spotlight: Students Perform Service in Orlando Area and Find Time for Fun
A group of 18 Upper School students spent many hours performing service and also found time to enjoy the theme parks for some adventure and fun during their six-day Intensive Learning trip to the Orlando, Florida area in late March.
Service activities were varied as the group spent time at the Give Kids The World Village, a 89-acre, nonprofit resort in Kissimmee, which provides week-long, cost-free wish vacations to critically ill children and their families from around the world who want to visit Central Florida. The MFS group also spent time volunteering at Second Harvest Food Bank and Christian Service Center in downtown Orlando.
“We’ve done this trip for a number of years, so it was great to take a group to Florida again after two years off because of the pandemic,” said Physical Education Department Chair Mike Brunswick, who has been an adviser and chaperone on many similar Intensive Learning trips to the Orlando area in years past. “It’s a great experience that has a very positive impact on everyone involved.”
The first two days of the trip were spent traveling and enjoying the sites and attractions in Orlando as the group visited Medieval Times Orlando as well as the Disney Springs dining, shopping, and entertainment center.
On day three of the trip, students were on their own to enjoy a picture-perfect weather day at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom. The group wrapped up the day by enjoying the evening fireworks together before heading back to the hotel.
The final three days of the trip were spent immersed in service experiences.
Time was spent over two days at Christian Service Center, a two-acre campus which includes a soup kitchen, thrift store, food pantry, fully accessible showers and toilets, and full laundry service. The facility also is home to an entire team of case workers and volunteers available to help and counsel those in need. Students worked as a team to help as needed: cooking and serving food, cleaning showers, working in the thrift store, and much more.
On day five of the trip, the group had an early-morning wake-up call to head to Second Harvest Food Bank. That day, the group made a total of 3,000 meals for elementary schools and day care centers throughout the area.
The group volunteered at Give the Kids The World Village over two days. Students performed a variety of tasks ranging from food preparation and delivery, playing games and making crafts with children, and participating in a Halloween celebration (including some students leading children on “Trick or Treat” excursions) and a talent show party for the children.
“Doing service at ‘Give Kids The World’ was one of my favorite aspects of our trip,” said Sulayman Hussain ’23. “Interacting with the little kids was really special.”
This is one in a series of 2022 Intensive Learning Spotlights. For one week each March, regular classes are suspended for “Intensive Learning,” when Middle and Upper School students and teachers engage in an in-depth study of a specific subject, often involving off-campus research. This long-standing MFS tradition — which dates back to the mid 1970s — allows teachers and students to break out of the structure of formal class periods and traditional study for a time of experiential learning. Both students and teachers are encouraged to view themselves as life-long learners and students of the world around them.