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“Day of Service” grows in popularity, second year in a row

Samantha Radford, Editor-in Chief • December 17, 2024

SENIOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS for Tommorow organizer Ray Watkins helps Trantwood Elementary School fifth grade students in the kitchen. Watkins worked with the sponsor from Edmarc to create Shephard’s pie for those people with terminal illnesses. (Samantha Radford)

Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow (VTFT) I and II and the Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads (YVCHR) teamed up for the second “Day of Service” event, on Friday, December 13. VTFT partnered with two new schools, Trantwood Elementary and Linkhorn Elementary, in addition to John B. Dey Elementary for this year’s event.

With more fifth grade students involved, VTFT students and sponsors worked to provide goods to those in need during the holiday season.

The “Day of Service” included five returning organizations, in addition to ten new organizations. With a total of 15, the organizers worked to spread the importance of community service and volunteerism.

The organizations involved included: the Virginia Beach Education Foundation, Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (VBSPCA), Edmarc, the Samaritan House, Falcon Press Online Student News, Lynnhaven River Now, People in Need (PiN) Ministry, St. Mary’s Home, Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, Operation Smile, United Service Organizations (USO), Preston Homes, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter’s, and Tidewater Friends of Foster Care.

According to YVCHR Program Director Kiley Jensen, after the successful “Day of Service” last year, VTFT and YVCHR decided to go bigger and include even more students who could benefit.

She said that including students from other schools, would prepare them for middle school as they have the ability to make connections with their future peers before entering sixth grade.

The event, held at the Great Neck Recreation Center, consisted of groups of fifth graders from each school, led by 2-4 VTFT students, in addition to the organization sponsor. After learning about the organization and understanding what they would be tasked to create for those in the community, students got straight to work.

“Service can be fun! It’s rewarding, and it makes them (fifth grade students) feel good [about] what they are doing here,” Jensen said. “I hope the positive reinforcement would be the students biggest takeaway from this year’s “Day of Service” event.

The USO, was one of the non-profit organizations involved in the event. They support military service members and families in many ways by providing care packages, offer Wi-Fi connections and therapy dogs to deployed troops.

According to USO sponsor Kenny Miller, the “Day of Service” event provided students with a sense of purpose, and allowed them to recognize that those in the military make many sacrifices, including being away from their family during long deployments.

Students working with this organization also helped create cards for service members who overseas and away from their families during the holidays.

“It will probably make the military person feel that they still have a part in Christmas with their families,” Trantwood fifth grade student Margaret Taylor said.

With the latest November count from the City of Virginia Beach, more than 300 citizens are without shelter this season. PiN, a non-profit ministry, provides items to help the homeless community.

Senior VTFT II student Cole Ludford worked with PiN to create beds for homeless citizens this winter.

“I hope they (the fifth grade students) know that it’s for a good cause,” Ludford said. “In fifth grade, I came home every single night with a warm bed to sleep in, but not everyone has this. So we decided to make sleeping mats, so they can sleep a little bit better.”

Ludford and his team spent six hours constructing the base of the bed, and then his group bought grocery bags which the students used to weave as the foundation of the sleeping surface.

John B. Dey Fifth grade teacher and Newspaper Adviser Nicole Prater and her students participated in the “Day of Service”, giving some insight as to what she hoped students learned from this experience.

“We did this last year, and Cox High School came to help. Now with two more schools, it’s really exciting,” Prater said. “I want them to take away that it’s not about them, but instead…I hope they realize that they’ve made an impact on their community.”