Celebrating Service Day Held on Three Campuses

Episcopal’s Founders focused on creating students who were “doers of good.” On April 10, Celebrating Service Day, an annual Episcopal tradition that involves the entire community, included volunteer activities, recognitions of service, and events for all students and faculty to acknowledge and celebrate the importance of service. Spiritual Life and Service is one of the school’s Four Pillars.

On the Munnerlyn Campus, ESJ partnered with 12 local non-profit organizations. Students in grades 11 and 12 were off campus, with juniors volunteering at community sites including American Cancer Society, Feeding Northeast Florida, Five Star Veterans Center, Hope Haven, Hope’s Closet, Sanctuary on 8th Street, St. Mary’s Food Pantry, and UCOM. Seniors students did service projects at the school’s Knight Sports Campus. Meanwhile, sophomores packed hundreds of meals for Haiti Promise, freshmen hosted a field day for North Florida School of Special Education, and Middle School students packed meals with Hunger Fight. Middle School also had a presentation by St. Mary’s staff and completed a food insecurity learning activity.

On the Beaches Campus, Episcopal partnered with K9s For Warriors. Students across all grade levels learned about K9s For Warriors’s mission and the life-changing impact of service dogs. A representative from the organization spoke to students, and brought a special guest – a service pup-in-training. After the assemblies, the student body came together for a hands-on service project. Guided by fifth grade, students worked in teams to assemble donation baskets with class-collected items and created heartfelt handmade cards for veterans. 

Fifth grade leaders on the St. Mark’s Campus created a video and presented it to the student body as a reminder of how deeply rooted the spirit of service is at Episcopal. They shared an inspiring message that highlighted the many opportunities Eagles have to serve throughout the year, such as patrols, Chapel leaders, Chapel buddies, and acolytes. Each grade also leads a service learning project that reaches outside the school community. Students in first and second grade lead a campus-wide initiative to collect art supplies for patients at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, supporting the Art with a Heart program. Second graders visit women in a Bible study group where they offer the blessing of a song to lift their spirits. Third graders write heartfelt letters to seniors in the Young at Heart ministry at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. This year fourth and fifth graders also collected essential supplies for victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, as well as snacks to help stock the JSO Stop Station at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.