Service Learning - Potomac School

A group of people, dressed in casual attire, are walking along a dirt path surrounded by lush greenery and trees in a forested area.

We Are Changemakers

Service Learning is about asking essential questions like "How can I be a changemaker?", "What are the needs, injustices, and inequities in our community?", and "What matters to me?". When students begin to explore the 'why' they acquire a stronger understanding of the importance of building habits of service. They evolve from questions to firm statements, such as, "I have a responsibility to know about, and address community issues."

Character defining moments are created at Potomac. Our aim is for students to recognize they have the power to make a difference, to show their civic responsibility, and to embody a generosity of spirit.

Service learning is an essential part of the Potomac School experience and integrated into the K-12 curriculum. Through grade-level initiatives, classroom projects and leadership opportunities, students in each division expand their understanding of issues in our community and take action to support people in need, steward our natural world, and work towards social change. In our schoolwide program, Service Learning helps students discover ways to use their time, talents, and interests to create positive outcomes.

What Makes Service Learning at Potomac Distinct?

Potomac School’s Service Learning program

Digs into the 'why' behind the lack of equitable distribution of resources within communities.
Exemplifies a K-12 approach by creating experiences for students across all grade levels and providing multiple touch points to our community partners over time, helping students develop a deeper understanding of needs in our community.
Is integrated into the classroom experience and the Advisory program as well as interconnected with our school’s focus on developing life skills, including cultural competence, financial literacy, and real world problem solving.
Supports Potomac’s commitment to character formation and our school’s mission to prepare students to live lives of purpose, achievement, and generosity of spirit.

Club Spotlight

community supports Middle School Service Learning club

We wrapped our annual Food Drive for Share of McLean. After our first graders counted and sorted the items, our Middle School Service Learning Club delivered our donations. They were also able to meet our partners at Share, tour the pantry, and learn a little bit about the work they do. Through our K-12 collection, we were able to donate more than 800 of the most needed items, including peanut butter, granola bars, and diapers, to serve our neighbors in need. Thank you to all who contributed for making such a difference in our community!

How does service Learning reach every student at Potomac?

All Potomac students, from Kindergarten to grade 12, participate in foundational service learning experiences connected to four community needs: hunger, homelessness, and poverty; literacy; the elderly; and the environment. Grade-level initiatives in Kindergarten to grade 6 are led in the classroom and foundational initiatives in grades 7-12 are led in Advisory groups. Each grade-level experience connects our students with local community partners and is intended to provide a foundation for service for every student at Potomac.

Service Learning Contacts

Joy Webster
Director of K-12 Service Learning

Alexa Twibell
Upper School Service Learning Coordinator

Stories

Sharing Winter Comfort – Coat Drive for React DC

IS Students SERVE community

Intermediate School students recently participated Community Action Day. Seventh graders and advisors toured the Montgomery County Recycling Center, worked on Potomac’s trails – including planting native wildflowers – and learned how they will lead Potomac’s recycling efforts across campus. Eighth grade students and advisors engaged in meaningful service at various food-focused community partners across the DMV and returned to campus for the first IS Sandwich Day of the year.

VISITING OLDER ADULTS

Second graders took turns visiting assisted living homes as part of their Service Learning curriculum. Students met with the executive director of Chesterbrook Residences to learn more about the needs of older adults in our community. Students also took tours, join an exercise class, and visited with some residents. Other classes visited Sunrise Senior Living in McLean Village, where they toured the facility, interviewed residents, and played some Valentine-themed games.

A group of young people, some wearing floral dresses and holding bouquets of flowers, stand together in what appears to be a hallway or corridor.

Flower Arranging

Members of sixth grade Students for Environmental and Service Learning Action (SESLA) created 24 flower vase donations, reusing flowers from Potomac's May Day tradition and recycled vases donated by Potomac families, to spread joy among older adults living at Chesterbrook Residences.

Witnessing History at Vinson Hall

Grade 10 English classes met with residents at one of our community partners, Vinson Hall in McLean, as a culminating testimony project following their reading of the book Night by Elie Wiesel. Students interviewed older adults who lived through significant historical events and testified from a first-person perspective. Each student was paired with a resident from Vinson Hall to learn from the rich histories they were sharing. Among the participants were two ambassadors, an Emmy-winning sports producer, and even former Potomac teachers. The conversations were rich and lively. Students took notes while recording their interviews using the otter.ai app, creating a voice-to-text transcript. The reciprocity and engagement were meaningful and enriching for all, and our students embodied our core values of respect, integrity, and generosity of spirit.

SHARING THE Love of Reading

Our reimagination of Potomac's annual book fair, A Celebration of Reading Book Swap, was a huge success! We were able to make an impact on our broader community through book donations to partner organizations across the DC metro area. As part of their grade-level foundational service learning, students in grades 3 and 5 selected books for local preschoolers at the Falls Church McLean Children's Center and Higher Horizons, to help grow their home libraries and enrich their classrooms. Additionally, the remaining books were donated to the One Word Reading Initiative.

POWEr PACKED WIth KINDNESS

More than 120 members of our Potomac community gathered to pack weekend meal kits to support the Power Pack Program of our partner Food for Others. Hannah Brockway, the Communications Coordinator from Food for Others, came to share about the challenges of food insecurity in our area and how the Power Pack Program meets the needs for the kids of Fairfax County. Our community was able to pack 500 Power Packs, which totaled 1,257 pounds of food. Many thanks to all who donated time, talents, and supplies to make this impactful event possible. It was a beautiful outpouring of generosity of spirit!

VALENTINES FROM THE HEART

Potomac families created more than 450 valentines to brighten the spirits of older adults served by our community partners Chesterbrook Residences, Culpepper Gardens, and The Washington Home Center. An additional thanks to student leaders in our MS and US service learning clubs for making more than 130 valentines for staff members at these organizations, to thank them for their caregiving throughout the pandemic. We are grateful to Parent Association Service Learning Committee (PASLC) leaders for organizing this family service opportunity.