Four Divisions, One Month: A September of Service

When a storm passes, the news moves on. For the families living through the aftermath, the work is only beginning: a place to sleep, a change of clothes, a house to put back together, and some sign that somebody out there is still thinking of them.

The Center for Civic Engagement chose disaster relief as September's service theme, and each division took it on in its own way. Early Childhood students worked in crayon and construction paper, Middle School students packed kits during Community Time, and Upper School students gave up a Saturday to a build site in the Lower Ninth Ward. The people they were helping, though, were all in the same position: still months or years from a finished home.

Where It Began

Representatives from Strongward, formerly SBP, visited the Upper School on September 15 for a Community Service Assembly, where Abby White ’27 introduced them and their work. Two days later, Nayara de Silva-Ahmed ’28 stood up at Lower School Morning Meeting and gave a version of the same talk for a much younger audience. She walked students through what a family actually faces once a storm has passed, from finding somewhere to sleep to waiting on a house that may take years to rebuild, and she talked about the ways ordinary people can help. Several of the projects the Lower School would take on later in the month were already on her list.

The Youngest Hands: Encouragement Cards and Busy Bags

For a small child, the weeks after a storm can feel endless and strange. Our youngest students answered with what they do best.

In the Early Childhood Center, students made Encouragement Cards for the United Way, to be delivered to families staying in shelters. The assignment was simple: make something that would brighten a hard day for a child you'll never meet. The lesson underneath it was empathy.

Across the Early Childhood Center and Lower School, students also assembled Busy Bags, small kits of activities to keep a child occupied and comforted while a family gets back on its feet. The Center for Civic Engagement supplied the bags, Country Day families filled them, and they are on their way to children living in shelters.

Middle School: Comfort Kits 

Middle School students used their Community Time in September to assemble Comfort Kits for the United Way. The kits are going to children whose homes were damaged by flooding in several parts of the country and who are living in shelters while their families sort out what comes next. Students wrote notes of encouragement for each kit, offering empathy and hope. By the end of the month, 53 kits had been collected and sent on.

Upper School: Rebuilding in the Lower Ninth Ward

Nine Upper School students spent Saturday, September 19, working with lowernine.org, a nonprofit that has been rebuilding homes in the Lower Ninth Ward for nearly two decades. Many of the neighborhood's residents are still waiting to move back into houses that were damaged years ago, and the organization relies on volunteer crews to keep the work moving. Country Day's group put in a full day on site.

Families Together: Our First Family Service Project

On Saturday, September 26, 40 people from 13 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade families filled the Coleman Family Dining Room for something Country Day had never done before: a Family Service Project.

Parents and children learned the basics of storm preparedness side by side, then got to work. Together they assembled more than 30 Disaster Buckets that will go straight to Strongward homeowners. Each bucket holds the practical things a family needs in the first days after a storm, plus the item the Center for Civic Engagement calls the most important of all: hope. Families also wrote Welcome Home cards, each one to be placed inside a rebuilt house before its family walks through the door for the first time.

For many parents, the morning was as meaningful as it was for their kids. As one Country Day parent put it afterward, "Thank you for providing such a valuable and meaningful experience for our families. I have also yearned for more volunteer opportunities for my children, and I love how Country Day is committed to providing these experiences and connections for their students."

Why It Matters

In New Orleans, disaster recovery is not an abstract idea. Most of us remember exactly what it means to come home to the aftermath of a storm. We also remember who showed up. This September, students in every division got to be those people for someone else.

A kindergartener coloring an Encouragement Card and a senior hauling lumber in the Lower Ninth Ward were doing the same work. They were making sure a family somewhere knows it isn't facing the recovery alone.

Coming in October

The disaster-relief month was the first in a year of monthly service themes from the Center for Civic Engagement. In October, the focus turns to members of our community facing health challenges. Watch Occurrences for October's projects and ways for your family to take part.

Our partners: Strongward, formerly SBP, is a long-term disaster recovery organization that helps communities prepare, recover, and build back stronger. Country Day students also worked this month with the United Way and lowernine.org.