The Steward School will honor Dr. King’s legacy by committing ourselves to a “Day On, Not a Day Off.”
In the spirit of the national King Day of Service established by Congress in 1994, The Steward School will honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy on Monday, January 21 by committing ourselves to a “Day On, Not a Day Off.”
Each year since 2010, The Steward School has partnered with area Richmond public schools, including Woodville Elementary, Fairfield Court Elementary, and Highland Springs Elementary, and the Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School to engage in school beautification projects. These activities provided hands-on, collaborative learning and civic engagement opportunities for our students. The shared efforts of MLK Day programming has renewed and strengthened bonds within our school community. These experiences have been so beneficial to our students, faculty, and staff that we have chosen to “Paint It Forward” again on MLK Day 2013. This year we will partner with Richmond’s Chimborazo Elementary School. We are fortunate to again have the opportunity to engage in the good work of helping others.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day all Steward students, grades JK through 12, will participate in an assembly that reflects on Dr. King’s legacy, his mark on history, and the importance of taking action in the pursuit of progress toward Dr. King’s vision. Our speaker, Larry Palmer, began his education in a segregated elementary school in Missouri. Encouraged by a very special teacher who mentored him, he went on to Exeter, a boarding school in New England, and then to Harvard for college and Yale for law school. He has spent much of his life giving back to others through his work as a professor at several universities including Cornell, the University of Louisville, William and Mary, and VCU. He has also given back to others through his service to his church and to service organizations in the communities in which he has lived. Cheryl Burke, Chimborazo’s principal, will also address our students.
After the opening program, all juniors and seniors will be dispatched to Chimborazo Elementary to work on a variety of projects. Students, faculty, and staff members will be involved in art room and lobby makeovers, while still others will be repainting areas that need sprucing up, or installing artwork created by Steward students and faculty members. Students in Middle and Lower School will be working on multiple projects including painting ceiling tiles with book characters and creating soda can flower pots. Our Middle School students will be partnering with students from the Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School for assemblies and collaborative classes and then will face off in an annual basketball game.
Parents and other community members can keep up with events of the day in real time at http://admissions.stewardschool.org/MLKDay/. The site will include video snapshots, blog entries by students, faculty, and staff, and photographs of all of the day’s activities. This page will be updated throughout the day to document The Steward School’s commitment to furthering Dr. King’s legacy and to building stewards one by one.
For Immediate Release: January 17, 2013
Contact: Lori Jobe, Director of Communications
(804) 565-2319 or Lori.Jobe@stewardschool.org
Media Alert: “Paint It Forward”
