Red & Gray Magazine: Focus on Service Learning - The Fessenden ...

“IN ALL SCHOOL ORIENTEDSERVICE PROJECTS, HE HASPARTICIPATED AND GOTTENVALUE … OUR FAMILY HASUNOFFICIALLY ADOPTED AFAMILY AND HE IS VERY GIVINGAND GENEROUS WITH THEMOFFERING HELP, CLOTHING,TAKING PHOTOS FOR GIFTSAND CARDS, PASSING ON HISGENTLY USED ELECTRONICSAND EVEN GIVING HIS OWNMONEY TO ASSIST THEM.”– Loril Gunn, mother of Ian Gunn ’09 currentlyenrolled at The Cambridge School of WestonCLASS NOTES HIGHLIGHT ALUMNI SERVICEA number of Fessenden alumni and parentsof alumni responded to an electronic surveythat inquired about service to the communityand volunteer work in which alumni participate.Some of the responses are includedwithin this article. Be sure to visit the classnotes section beginning on page 18 to readmore about the broad range in whichFessenden’s alumni make a positive impacton their communities. Class notes thatinclude service work are indicated by the pawprint symbol.Left to right, ninth graders and Upper School Big Brothers William Kimball and Jack Slye, with help fromSmith Leadership Academy student, assist first grader Kamran Bina score baskets during the Lower SchoolBasketball Shootout. The event raised nearly $11,000 for the Smith Leadership Academy in Dorchester.Fessenden is working toward developing a partnership with the local charter school.responds: “Instilling a pattern of philanthropyand impressing upon our boys the importanceof positive participation in one’s communityand knowing that Fessenden parents are ourpartners in this work is truly affirming to theculture of philanthropy we are fortunate to haveat Fessenden. I am confident that, together, weare transforming boys into young men of characterand into adults who positively affect theworld.” It is our responsibility as educators tocontinue to focus our efforts on maximizing thebenefits our students receive through their servicework. We must prepare them for futureinvolvement in their communities.As long as Fessenden remains the kind of placethat values the importance of evaluating programsand curriculum, the school will continueto bring out the best in boys and inspire theiractive participation in their communities aroundthe globe. In 1903, the following quotefrom the School’s Founder Frederick J.Fessenden appeared in the first Fessenden catalog:“Experience has proved that intellectualpower and strength of character depend uponexact early training and discipline and, withsound body, become the most valuable acquisitionwhich a boy can have. It will be the aim ofthis school to train a boy along right lines fromthe beginning, to teach him how to study andform correct habits of work, and to inculcate theprinciples which are to regulate his daily conductand guide his future life.” While there isalways work to be done to ensure that our serviceprograms provide the most meaningfullearning experiences possible, reports fromalumni around the world, many of whichappear within the pages of this magazine, indicatethat we have, in fact, been training boys“along right lines from the beginning.”8 w w w . f e s s e n d e n . o r g