Pingry Students Participate in 1st Annual Day of Service

The Pingry School Parents’ Association (PSPA) held its first annual “Day of Service” for the entire school community on January 21, organized by the PSPA and Shelley Hartz, Pingry’s Director of Community Service. The event combined the PSPA’s mission of community building and Pingry’s dedication to community service.

Over 150 people, representing families from the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools, worked on nine different community service projects.

“Our children participate in many Pingry-sponsored service events and many programs of their own choosing, but, for the Pingry community, involving both adults and children together reinforced the importance and impact of service. We were thrilled with the attendance,” said PSPA First Vice President Laura San Miguel, who oversees the PSPA’s Community Service Committee.

Pingry’s focus on community service continues to grow. All students in grades 7 to 12 are required to complete 10 hours of service each school year, but many students are spending more time on service, and the school is partnering with more organizations. “This was the perfect time to create an opportunity for the
entire community,” Hartz said. The timing was appropriate because the
country has been recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a “Day On” for
service, rather than a “Day Off.”

Among the activities, students and their parents created origami cranes, wrote cards of hope for cancer patients, wrote letters to soldiers, and made blankets and bookmarks. Their efforts will benefit local organizations, including BRIDGES
Outreach, Bryan’s Dream, Cancer Support Community, Chelsea Senior Living Home, Color a Smile, Operation Jersey Cares, and TEAM Charter Schools.

About The Pingry School:

The Pingry School is recognized throughout the United States for its academic
excellence, Honor Code, arts, athletics, and universal concern among faculty for
each student in the school. The school’s mission is to foster in students a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth, and social responsibility, while preparing them to be global citizens and leaders of the 21st century. It does this by providing an unparalleled intellectual experience for its students while guiding their development as people of honor and character. Pingry, a K-12 coeducational, independent country day school, was founded in 1861 in Elizabeth, New Jersey by Dr. John F. Pingry and is spread over two campuses: K-5 in Short Hills and Grades 6-12 in Basking Ridge. The diverse student body is composed of approximately 1,070 students from 108 communities and 14 counties across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For more information visit the school’s web site, www.pingry.org. Follow Pingry on Twitter: @thepingryschool.