Community Service
Annual Programming
Community Day
Heading Home
Senior Community Service Day
Youth in Philanthropy
Additional Programs
Community Service at Middlesex
At Middlesex School we seek to touch the lives of others in positive ways and make a difference in the surrounding greater Boston community and beyond. In doing so, we are strengthened by learning from those that we help especially in terms of empathy and courage. Throughout the year there are a variety of service offerings. You can participate in weekly, monthly, or annual service programs both on and off campus. During breaks students can travel beyond our campus to engage in either domestic or global service trips. As we prepare our students to be good and productive citizens in an increasing global and diverse world, we want to instill in them the values of selflessness and using ones talents to help others which enable us to grow in our ability to understand ourselves and the world more fully.
Browse some of our annual community service projects:
The community service officers consist a group of seniors committed to promoting service to the greater community as a core value to the school. They begin facilitation training on the first afternoon of senior orientation. During the first week of school they begin leading the Open Table program and within the first month they assist in the facilitation of the all school community service day.
The Mountain Warrior Sled Hockey Team from Fort Drum, NY visits the Boston area routinely to compete on the ice and share their experiences with our community off the ice. Middlesex students have the opportunity to participate in a sled hockey game and raise funds for the visiting sled hockey team’s future uniform and travel needs.
Community Day
Community Service Day happens each fall for the ninth and eleventh grades as well as our faculty. On the Monday following the all school read assembly, we head out into the greater Boston community to engage in community service. The students and faculty typically work in groups of 12-20 depending upon the needs of the site. Much of the work happens on local farms as the students help assist with the fall harvest, while other opportunities are presented with Rise Against Hunger, Habitat for Humanity, and many more.
From November to March, our students and teachers engage in weekly service program known as Gazebo. Every Saturday our students and faculty lead a learn to skate program for children who are differently abled. Our students race out of class to be there each week, and they frequently work with the same children over the course of their years at Middlesex. The rink is always filled with smiles and laughter on Gazebo skating days.
Youth in Philanthropy is a co-curricular service class that is open to all 11th grade students and runs one evening a week from mid-January until the end of April. During the course, students learn and gain a better understanding of philanthropy. They research local organizations – becoming aware of community needs and performing site visits to the organizations that are applying for grants. As a group they evaluate and discuss their experiences and the grant proposals. Then they select and award the Foundation’s youth development grants. This program is run in junction with the Foundation for MetroWest, and Middlesex is among five of the Concord, MA schools that participate in this program.
Each fall the Middlesex community service program is working with Heading Home, a Boston-based nonprofit that moves homeless families into permanent housing through a program called Up-and-Out moves. Middlesex volunteers collect furniture and other home goods throughout the year, and then move them into the family’s new home on a Sunday in the fall. It is a rewarding experience for all.
Senior community service day occurs in late May prior to graduation. During Community Day in the fall, the seniors are busy working on their college applications and thus their service day is pushed to later in the year. This day runs similar to Community Day, but with two exceptions: we tend to work in groups of twelve students and second they are treated to a special senior lunch upon their return from the service projects.
Rise Against Hunger
Lowell Wish Project
Mill City Grows
Drumlin Farms
Special Olympics Massachusetts
Lowell Habitat for Humanity
Waypoint Adventure
The Children’s Meetinghouse
Concord Conservation
Toys-for-Tots
Harlem Lacrosse
Thanksgiving Food Drive