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Shevins Receives Dottie Lamm Award
Posted: May 29, 2008 |
Dawson sophomore Marissa Shevins is one of just one of two statewide recipients of the Dottie Lamm Award, presented annually to a select two Colorado juniors-to-be who will work closely with the The Women's Foundation of Colorado to identify a girls’ or women’s centered nonprofit in her community and support it with a grant with funding through the Foundation
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Dawson Named EPYCS School of the Year
Posted: April 30, 2008 | Read More
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Dawson 23rd Annual Community Service Day
Posted: April 18, 2008 |
On Friday, April 18 Dawson freshmen, sophomores and juniors devoted approximately 750 total hours to the school’s greater community, working with their advisor groups at one of 14 sites throughout Boulder County and beyond, including Dawson's annual Colorado Northeast Area Special Olympics Sports Festival (pictured).
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Community Service Documentation Form
Posted: September 11, 2007 | Read More
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Dawson School is proud of the level of community service awareness and participation by the Dawson community.
Philosophy
By encouraging students to make a personal investment in the well being of others, Dawson creates a culture that values compassion, cooperation and respect.
Who does community service at Dawson?
All students, K-12, have the opportunity to be a part of age-appropriate service projects that may be organized by individuals, groups or the Dawson community service program. Many are open to students, parents and family members, as well as faculty and staff. One may participate as an individual, small group, class or school. Projects vary from year to year and range from fundraising and collection drives, to volunteer labor for meal serving, clothing collection drives, food sorting, and art projects.
How much service does the school do?
Annually more than 4,000 volunteer hours are completed by Dawson students and staff as part of the school’s community service program or on their own initiative, and represent over 80 different projects.
Is it required of students?
Many projects are integrated into the classroom or school day, but the majority of the service opportunities are optional. Students and their families choose those which best fit their interests and schedules.
Community service is the focus of the10th grade class trip. Following this fall trip, all 10th grade students perform at least 10 hours of community service during their sophomore year as a graduation requirement. Many students perform community service in excess of these hours, and Upper School students are encouraged to record their total hours for their own records.
When do students do community service?
To accommodate students' schedules, ther are opportunites to help during the school day: Lower School classes may integrate it into their curriculum, a club in middle school may take on a project, or study hall time be used to complete a mailing for a nonprofit. Both Middle and Upper Schools participate in Dawson Community Service Days, with students traveling off campus in small groups with teachers to work at nearby agencies, schools or nursing homes.
After school or on weekends there are often opportunities to volunteer for meal serving, fundraising walks, tutoring or general help. Most of these are off campus, but some, such as the traditional Dawson Special Olympics Soccer Tournament are held at Dawson.
Who selects the projects to be done and who do they serve?
Students, teachers, advisor groups, clubs, teams or the town councils, can initiate service projects. Others are organized by the community service director.
The needs targeted by Dawson's community service program reflect the varied interests and concerns of our community members. These have included local, regional, national and international service projects, and typically address needs in one or more of the following areas: emergency or medical service, health, education, or family services, arts and culture, disabled services, sports and recreation, animal well-being or environmental concerns.
How does one get involved?
Students learn about the opportunities through their daily school interactions, announcements, Friday Folders or posters. Full information and sign-ups are on the community service bulletin board outside the Henderson dining hall, and projects open to all are posted on the website. Students in Upper School may join the community service club to help plan larger ongoing events or drives. Advisor groups, winterim classes, sports teams or other groups often take on projects that especially interest them.
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Dawson School Community Service Projects
Ninety projects were undertaken by Dawson students and staff as part of the school’s community service program or on their own initiative during the 2006-07 school year.
American Cancer Society
Help with various office projects.
Attn Homes
Smoothie Tuesday proceeds were earmarked for the Attention Homes Teen Shelter in Boulder. EPYCS Students then purchased towels and supplies for the bathroom of the new shelter.
BCAP
Two ninth graders initiated a toiletries collection drive to benefit the Boulder County AIDS Project.
Balfour Retirement
Both fifth grade classed participated in the Back to School Intergenerational Luncheon at Balfour Retirement Center. Students viewed a short slide show on life during the Depression, then visited and played board games with senior residents.
Berthoud Wrestlers
An Upper School advisor group held a bake sale to raise funds to donate to the two high school students from Berthoud who lost their legs in a car accident.
Blood Drive
Student volunteers recruited donors from the Dawson community to support the Bonfils Blood Center’s drive. Twenty-two (22) people came to donate, yielding 18 units, seven of which were from first-time donors.
Blue Sky Bridge
The students in both the fifth and sixth grades learned about the Blue Sky Bridge abuse prevention program, and worked together to prepare a mass mailing for the non-profit.
Boulder Homeless Shelter
Blanket Drive
Build-A-Bear
The second grade held a smoothie fundraiser to earn funds for their trip to Build-A-Bear to create bears for Children’s Hospital.
Butterfly Pavilion
Prepared soil for outdoor garden beds.
Colorado Friendship
Help sort clothing at their North Boulder Warehouse.
Community Food Share
Upper school students joined EPYCS volunteers during lunch time at Community Food Share, helping sort food for the area food bank.
Community Table
An Upper School teacher and his advisees prepared and served the meal for the Boulder Community Table program.
Dimes for Dogs
Lower School Town Council sponsored a "Guess How Many Spiders in the Jar" raffle on Halloween. Seventy dollars was donated to the program that assists dogs at the Longmont Humane Society.
Drive to Thrive
Organized by sophomores, a school-wide September drive was held to collect food, clothing and toiletries for the Sister Carmen Center in Lafayette.
Eco-Cycle
Empanadas
A day of Spanish classes was devoted to the making of over 100 empanadas. The products of this cultural project were donated to the North Boulder Homeless Shelter.
EPYCS Fundraising
The El Pomar Youth in Community Service (EPYCS) club sold Smoothies to earn their goal of $500 to participate in the El Pomar philanthropic program. These funds were later matched to total $8000 for the student group to donate to area non-profits.
This philanthropic service club met all year to write a mission statement, collect and read grants from area non-profits. After raising $500, El Pomar matched funds to total $8,000 for distribution by the EPYCS Club. Students read and evaluated over 50 grant applications from which five (Blue Sky Bridge, Street’s Hope, SafeHouse Denver, Inner City Health Center, Boulder County AIDS Project) were selected to receive $1,000.
ENO Tree Planting
Middle School planted a tree on International Tree Planting Day.
ENO Visitors From Africa
ENO students and teacher traveled with our visiting African ENO students and teachers to share details of the environmental program with Nation Association of Independent Schools Conference in Denver. Dawson donated soccer balls, pumps and clothing to visitors from both Botswana and Kenya to be shared with their schools in Africa.
Fire Victims
A small group of Upper School students initiated a smoothie fundraiser that generated $138 for the family whose home was burned in a Lafayette fire.
Growing Gardens
Habitat for Humanity
Decorated birdhouses for fundraising event and helped inventory and arrange recycled household items for resale.
Habitat for Humanity Flatirons Thrift Store
Halloween Candy for Seniors
Donations of Halloween candy were shared with two Longmont agencies: Longmont Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program, and the OUR Center’s lunch program.
Hunger Banquet
To raise awareness of worldwide hunger issues, the history department hosted its annual hunger banquet, serving rice and beans to most attendees, simulating the plight of the Third World. Donations of canned goods were given to Community Food Share and the Sister Carmen Center in Lafayette. Cash donations were donated to the work of the Kisiizi Hospital in Uganda.
Jen-Lo Therapy Farm
Fencing and spring clean up projects were the tasks done by this group.
Longmont Children’s Council/Head Start
Read stories to pre-school children on their picture day.
Lohr-Macintosh Agricultural Heritage Farm
The group did general spring -leaning farm projects at this historical site.
Malaria Nets
Smoothies were sold to generate funds for the Nothing But Nets program to combat malaria in Africa.
Multiple Sclerosis Walk
For the sixth consecutive year, an Upper School advisor and some of her advisees participated in the MS fundraising Walk in Denver.
Ninth Grade Trip
Ninth grade students and their teachers volunteered at Tahosa Lodge thinning an old burn site in the forest. They pruned and cut trees, then hauled and stacked cut branches.
Pennies for Patients
Donations for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients drive were collected in Lower School on their Smoothie Tuesday. The $178.02 was donated to fight leukemia and other blood cancers.
Peru Winterim
While in Peru on a winterim trip, this group vounteered at various siites. At a special clinic in Cuzco they worked with kids with physical and mental disabilities, and at an orphanage played, tutored and helped with an art project. In an agricultural section of Ollantaytambo they plowed, planted fields, prepared food and cleaned the roadway.
Pioneer Bilingual Elementary
Volunteer as reading buddies in Kindergarten, Preschool and First Grade.
Project CURE
Loaded medical supplies for shipment to Africa.
Restore
EPYCS club members and others worked during lunch and club time at this store of recycled household goods that raises funds for the St Vrain Habitat for Humanity.
Sanchez Elementary
Students were reading buddies for elementary aged children.
Sandstone Ranch District Park
Help with outdoor projects at the visitor’s center.
Sister Carmen Center
Help in the food bank and/or thrift store.
Share-a-Coat
Warm winter jackets were collected in Lower, Middle and Upper school to support the Rotary Valley Rotary Clubs program to clean and distribute wraps to the needy in Boulder County.
Smoothie Tuesday
The proceeds of Smoothie sales were donated to cover the Winterim expenses of a classmate who is fighting leukemia.
Special Olympics Colorado
Tenth Grade Trip
Forty-seven (47) students and six teachers spent a full day at Habitat for Humanity of San Luis Valley in Alamosa helping build passive solar adobe homes. A second day was spent working for La Puente Shelter, either at the Community Garden or weeding at its transitional housing site.
Toys for Africa
Middle School students donated small toys and stuffed animals to travel to Africa with their Science teacher to distribute to children at an AIDS orphanage in Botswana.
Trick or Treat for UNICEF
After a presentation on UNICEF, many students in grades K-6 decided to Trick or Treat for UNICEF. The collected funds of almost $900 to support child survival, protection and development worldwide through education and advocacy.
