For one day in April 2022, school looked a little different for over 400 students, staff and parents from Grace Academy of Georgetown as the entire organization paused book-learning to practice heart-warming in their annual day of service.
“This was our second year of SALT, which stands for Serving And Learning Together,” Tiffany McLendon, Director of Communications at Grace Academy of Georgetown, told Hello Georgetown. “It’s a school-wide project. We get every student kindergarten through twelfth grade, faculty and staff, plus parent volunteers, to kind of push pause on classroom learning and mobilize our troops to get out in the community and serve.”
The Grace Academy SALT coordinator, Pamela Medrano, explained the purpose of SALT by adding “At Grace Academy, we strive for our students to become life-long learners and servant leaders. We give them the tools, lessons, and opportunities to not only learn about the importance of serving but to go out in the Georgetown community and actually make a difference.”
Mayor Josh Schroeder addressed students, staff and parents in a speech the day before, emphasizing the role service plays in leadership.
“He said, ‘Leadership is one thing and that is serving, and that is what you kids get to go out and do on behalf of your school and your community, and Christ,'” McLendon recounted. “I think it energized the kids and inspired them. I think we all realized how special it is to be a part of the Grace community serving the larger Georgetown community.”
In total, the school served 11 different nonprofits in their annual service day, including:
- City of Georgetown Parks – Students weeded, mulched, and prepared flower beds for spring planting and performed landscaping tasks in order to prepare Heritage Gardens to reopen.
- Dell Childrens’ Hospital – The kindergarten class put together Easter baskets for children in the hospital over the holiday.
- Georgetown Police Department – First grade students spent the day at the police station where they assembled activity bags and teddy bear kits for displaced citizens
- ROCK Ride on Center – Upper school students spent time at ROCK sanding and painting exterior doors and planting sunflowers.
- Brookwood in Georgetown – Students weeded, mulched, and planted flowers in the gardens around the green house and Gracie building creating a welcoming entrance for all who use it
- The Nest Empowerment Center – Fifth grade students prepped and painted exterior staircases and removed carpet from the second story.
- Camp of the Hills – Students created garden spaces, maintained some of the camp’s trails, and made preparations for upcoming summer programs.
- Texas Baptist Children’s Home – Fourth grade students spent the day on a variety of beautification projects around the grounds at the children’s home.
- Habitat for Humanity – Students painted interior spaces at the Re-Store as well as spent time sorting and organizing donated items.
- Helping Hands of Georgetown – Students assembled brown bag lunches and created a card to be included in each one.
- Key 2 Free – Students worked at one of the homes provided to survivors improving the outdoor living space by trimming trees and creating a place to eat and lounge.
“The service day was full of special experiences,” McLendon added, including for one staff member who saw his own experience of service come full circle while helping the fifth graders serve at The Nest Empowerment Center.
“Our Facilities Manager, Daniel Rangel, decided to serve alongside the fifth grade students this year because those are his buddies, but he didn’t know exactly where they were serving,” McLendon said.
When the students and adults pulled up to the Nest Empowerment Center, Rangel recognized the building as he himself had been embraced there as a high school student.
“He even found his brick on the wall that they painted as high school seniors when they graduated,” McLendon said. “He sort of broke down, and had a really emotional moment. It was just such a special connection that he had with that place and powerful that he was able to share his story with the fifth grade students. I mean, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Everyone was really moved by his story, and you could tell that the students began to understand how the work they were doing there would tangibly bless others, just getting to see that firsthand experience.”
“Experiences like this and others,” McLendon said, “really demonstrate the purpose and value of their annual SALT service day.”
“We want to graduate students who are not just academically prepared, but equipped to be contributing members of society, called to service, and spiritually grounded,” McLendon said. “The call to service is a very important part of preparing students to be good stewards of the gifts that God has blessed them with.”
Grace Academy’s next annual SALT day is already in the early stages of planning.
“How grateful we are to be able to partner with such amazing organizations like The Nest, BiG, Key to Free, ROCK, GPD, all of them, that we have right here in Georgetown. It’s a privilege for us to work alongside them and build relationships with them.” McLendon noted.
You can view a full gallery of images from the day of service below (courtesy Grace Academy of Georgetown):
About Grace Academy of Georgetown:
The seeds to plant a classical Christian school in Georgetown, TX were first sown in 2000 by four families committed to providing a Christ-centered education with strong academics for their children. In 2001 several other families joined and in God’s providence, Grace Academy now serves over 320 students in grades K-12. God blessed us with a permanent campus home in 2007. The Grace Academy Campus is situated on 35 beautiful acres in Georgetown, Texas, just north of Austin, upon which students have the unique opportunity to learn, explore, and create. Our philosophy of education is rooted in our mission statement:
To glorify God by serving parents in providing their children a distinctly Christ-centered, academically excellent, classical education as a foundation for life-long learning.
Learn more about Grace Academy of Georgetown on their website or their Facebook page.
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