Community Treasures

Remember the old adage: “One man's trash is another man's treasure?” Far more, however, than an opportunity to de-clutter and recycle discarded or outgrown clothing or domestic items, Rummage at the Rink has come to represent a key community-building opportunity for USM.

In addition to Rummage at the Rink’s purpose as an important Parents’ Association fundraiser, the event brings many members of the USM community together and also gives back to the greater Milwaukee community. (At the end of the sale, all remaining items are donated to a variety of local charities.) 

As explained by the PA, “There is a role for everyone to play, and it's the group effort that makes it a success.” Examples include: 

• Current school and alumni families, faculty and staff donate items to sell 
• Volunteers (again both current and alumni parents) sort and arrange items and staff the sale 
• Older students are involved to set-up of merchandise and help during the event 
• Faculty and staff have a preview date day to shop before the sale opens to the public. 

I’m told that in preparation for this weekend’s sale, more than 50 volunteers came last Saturday to help clear out the containers (where the donated items had been stored). All of the Upper School spring athletics teams, many of our Middle School students, and several other groups of volunteers did an amazing job. This teamwork resulted in the containers being unloaded in about 2.5 hours. As donations are running roughly 50 percent ahead of last year, this was an amazing effort.

I’m looking forward to attending my first USM rummage event this weekend. Perhaps an item will catch my eye, but mostly I’m anticipating the occasion to see this wonderful community in action. I was bowled over by Holiday Shops, which far exceeded my expectations, and no doubt Rummage at the Rink will offer another outstanding example of a dedicated community at work.

Helping Hands

“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.”

                                                                                                                    -- Sally Koch  

At this time of year, when there is a flurry of service projects at USM, all the opportunities – both great and small  that surround us here – help students learn and appreciate the value of contributing to society.

Student involvement in community service projects begins in prekindergarten and culminates with a 60-hour community service graduation requirement over the course of four years in Upper School. These experiences foster learning, personal growth and connections, and offer children opportunities to develop leadership skills.

A variety of USM projects – within the school community, around the greater Milwaukee area, and even internationally – allows students to acquire a rewarding sense of worth and inspires their investment in making a difference.

Among the many projects:

• The STAR Service Club Fashion Show benefiting Sojourner Family Peace Center is being held on Saturday, April 28.
• Also for Sojourner Family Peace Center clients, our sixth-graders design and fill welcoming bags, containing health and beauty items.
• Earlier this week, the Lower School collected supplies for the Pine View Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, an organization dedicated to the medical care, rehabilitation, and conservation of Wisconsin’s wild creatures, and to educating the public regarding the importance of sharing the earth with these creatures.  
• This week our JKers are finishing up their annual collection of cans for recycling. For almost 30 years, our JK classes have been collecting aluminum cans. As part of this project, the children visit Miller Compressing Company for a tour to see the cans crushed and weighed, and receive a check for their value. All this aluminum gets turned back into new cans and students have money to buy books for needy children and sponsor animals at the zoo that they visit in May.
• Second-graders are conducting their annual food drive for the Hunger Task Force until May 8 and are encouraging the USM community to bring in as much non-perishable food as possible.
• Coming up shortly is the fifth-grade service-learning trip to clean up the Milwaukee River. In the past seven years, fifth-grade students have recovered over a ton of refuse from Brown Deer and Lincoln Parks.

Certainly, this list is not comprehensive and you may well know of other projects where you have helped your child bring food or cans to school or where you have helped them participate in both tangible and intangible ways. Community service is just one more example of the partnership between home and school where we can work together to help students find their place in today’s rapidly changing society.