Middle School Students, Inspired by Literature and Art, Take Action

Seventh-grade students have been reading a novel called Piecing Me Together, which introduces the topics of food insecurity, the value of community service, and using art as a form of expression. Inspired by the book by Renée Watson, they took part in community service of their own. On February 9 and 10, they visited the Jewish Relief Agency (JRA), which serves over 6,400 diverse low-income individuals across the greater Philadelphia area, to pack nutritious food into bags and boxes for distribution. In total, they packed nearly 1,000 packages. Many students said it was rewarding to know they were reaching out to people in the community.

Later that day, students viewed a demonstration of encaustic painting from the Crawford Gallery's spring guest artist, Dawn Kramlich, who spoke about how she uses the text-image relationship in her artwork, which brought their lesson on Piecing Me Together full circle.

JRA offers family-friendly, safe, meaningful volunteer opportunities all year round. If your family is interested in participating in this service opportunity, please visit this link.