Middle School Kicks Off Intensive Learning Week with Day of Service

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.

Intensive Learning kicked off for students in Grades 5-8 on March 24 with the Middle School Day of Service. Each grade will enjoy various outdoors and service learning experiences throughout the week, all of which include an overnight visit. (You can read more about Middle School 2023 Intensive Learning experiences here.)

“As a Quaker school, we believe service is a touchstone for students’ ethical and spiritual development,” said Middle School Director Evan Haine-Roberts. “We encourage students to let their lives speak – to consistently seek truth and embody their core values in each moment of positive action – and we create opportunities for them to build their understanding and confidence in doing so.” 

Fifth graders worked with neighbor Toni Farmer to learn about sustainable and organic farming practices with an eye towards revitalizing our school garden program. They also created art projects to beautify and draw attention to these spaces, and they used their video skills from earlier classroom projects to document these efforts. 

Sixth graders visited K-2 classrooms at Urban Promise’s CamdenForward Elementary School. They joined younger students in their classrooms to share “gifts of kindness” that create connection and spread joy. Afterwards, they participated in a campus clean-up with faculty and students.

After learning about waterway pollution, seventh graders traveled to Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve to support river clean-up efforts with school parents Daniel Hunter and Lunden Abelson. Daniel is the author of Climate Resistance Handbook, as well as an activist and strategist who has supported organizations in work to combat climate change. Lunden is a professional counselor with a passion for ecotherapy – the practice of being in nature to boost growth and healing. As a grade they learned about the positive effects of, and helped to repair, the local ecosystem along the Delaware River near Cinnaminson.

Finally, eighth graders learned about food insecurity and organizing a food drive to support families in our area who are food insecure. After viewing the film A Place at the Table, students heard from Alex Wills of Cathedral Kitchen who talked about the experience of food insecure families. Students then made sandwiches and created fruit snacks to be delivered to the Kitchen, and they organized non-perishable items to be delivered to the First Baptist Church Food Pantry. 

We are excited that Middle School students at every grade level participated in service learning together on this day,” said Lower and Middle School (LS/MS) Coding Teacher and LS/MS Service Learning Coordinator Rachel Kaplan. “These programs connected students with communities beyond the classroom, building relationships and showing care for others and our environment.”