Community Service

In keeping with Oakwood Friends School 's mission of educating and strengthening young people for lives of conscience, compassion and accomplishment, community service plays an integral role in the life of students and faculty. Whether it is through our bi-annual Workshare Day, grade level community service retreats, or weekly volunteer rotations off campus, students are finding ways to reach out beyond Oakwood's campus and make an impact on the surrounding community.

Workshare Day

Each fall and spring, the entire Oakwood community spends a day volunteering at both off and on site locations helping with projects varying from gardening and working with children to spending time with senior citizens and painting in low-income housing units.

Students and faculty then reconvene on campus and attend Meeting for Worship to reflect on the day's service work.

Grade Level Retreats

Each grade takes part in a retreat at some point of the school year which includes a community service component. The 9 th grade volunteers locally, the 10 th grade travels to NYC to work with the homeless, 11 th graders volunteers in various locations during their trip to Washington, DC and the seniors take part in an end of the year service week where they also get involved with local community organizations. These retreats, which are designed to gradually increase in both time and independence, give students an opportunity to learn more about the issues facing both our local community, and the state and nation as a whole.

Weekly Volunteers

A relatively new component of the community service program at Oakwood is the weekly volunteer program. Each Wednesday, students not involved in team sports have the opportunity to volunteer either off campus at a local pre-school and senior community, or on campus making sleeping bags for Hudson River Housing's shelter program. Every weekend, 7-day boarders can volunteer locally as well. Currently there are approximately 20 students volunteering at four sites; Vassar Brothers Hospital, Beulah Baptist Church soup kitchen, The Manor House at Woodside (a senior community), and Sprout Creek Farm.

Senior Service

In addition to their end of the year service week, each senior is required to complete 20 hours of independent community service at the site of their choice. Locations/volunteer assignments this year include working as a camp counselor at a Korean camp, assisting as a tour guide at a local historic estate, and volunteering with a family dog at a senior center. Seniors also complete journal entries about their experiences which become part of Oakwood's permanent community service archives.

Service-Learning in New Orleans

New to the community service program last year was a service-learning trip to New Orleans to assist with the rebuilding efforts. From March 8th through the 15th, 12 seniors and 6 faculty chaperones will travel together to New Orleans to help with rebuilding efforts and wetlands restoration, and to volunteer in a local elementary school affected by Hurricane Katrina. Students take part in a series of mini-sessions before the trip covering such topics as the science of hurricanes and the arts and culture of New Orleans to help them contextualize the trip ahead of them. Upon their return, they will share their experience with the Oakwood community as a whole through a community meeting. Students are currently in the process of raising money for their trip and for donation. Opportunities to assist them include taking part in the 5K Race to Rebuild on Saturday April 22nd at 9 AM. Contact Community Outreach Coordinator, Julie Okoniewski at (845) 462-4200 or jokoniweski@oakwoodfriends.org for more information.