Horace Mann ninth graders learn about giving back

Reading out loud to students. Helping them build a castle with blocks. Simply having a conversation. Those were just some of the things that ninth-graders at Horace Mann School engaged in at the Riverdale Neighborhood House.

The events on Dec. 8 were intended to introduce students to “service learning,” which Horace Mann requires for graduation.

Ella Anthony read “Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes” by Eric Litwin to a class of 3-year-olds.

“Pete is sitting at his desk when his teacher says, ‘Come on Pete, down that hall, a room with books on every wall,’” Ella said as she sat in a chair surrounded by 3-year-olds eagerly listening to the story.

She asked the class, “Do you guys know what room that is?’

“Yes,” said one student.

“The library,” announced Ella.

“A library,” said one young girl. “A library—with cats,” she proudly added.

The story received rave reviews from students: “It was good. And, I liked the part when he went back home,” said Lucas, another student.

Yonatan said “everything” was his favorite part of the story.

“I knew I would do service learning, I just didn’t know which activity. And, when I heard that I would be working with kids, I was really excited because I love kids,” said Ella. She added that she was a bit nervous when reading the story to students but was encouraged by the positive reaction she received from the class.

“Just talking with them. Once they open up to you, it’s really nice and it’s so sweet,” said Ella, as she sat in the play kitchen where students decided to make her a hot dog.

Charlotte Cebula, who began her first year at Horace Mann, said she was happy to learn about the service-learning requirement. “I was excited when I found out that I got to read to the 3-year-old or to toddlers because that’s really fun to me.”

Charlotte added that she currently volunteers as a tutor, outside of school, on weekends.

She said that volunteering “makes you feel really good and like you are helping your community somehow.”

“I think everybody should get involved in it, especially at a young age,” said the ninth-grader. “It just helps everyone … It helps the community grow and improve. When you are older, the community will hopefully be a little bit better.”

During her time with the 3-year-olds, she read “Llama Llama holiday drama” by Anna Dewdney to students. Charlotte said she had fun but it was harder than she imagined because the students have a short attention span.

Arman Kumar said he appreciated that Horace Mann focused on service learning in addition to academics. He added that volunteering was a way for him to meet new people and help to make a difference in the community. “This was a really fun experience for me and I really did enjoy it. I’m thankful to Horace Mann for giving me this opportunity.”

Arman, who worked with the 4-year-old class, said talking with them and reading them stories were the best part of the day. “They were really friendly and they couldn’t wait to tell me all of their information,” added Arman, who recounted them telling him their favorite colors and sports.

Jeremy Leeds, director for the Center for Community Values and Action at Horace Mann, said the activity was one of many the school scheduled for the day to introduce its 180 freshmen to service learning.

Students are randomly selected to visit with each of the school’s community partners. He added the school wanted to show that service learning as not being a chore but an enjoyable experience.

Horace Mann also has service learning partnerships with organizations such as the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, Riverdale Senior Services, Van Cortlandt Park and the New York Common Pantry.

In 10th grade, students will propose their own service learning work. Although there are no set number of hours, the school requires that students select projects that have “impact, meaning and learning,” said Mr. Leeds.

“The other thing is that it’s integral to education itself to have a chance to take something that you are interested in and go out into the world … learn something from that and participate with other people,” said Mr. Leeds. “Without that, I think … education suffers as well. Education is not complete without that and that is the perspective that the school has taken.”

“We are here for two hours. It could really make someone’s day. That’s what really matters. As long as were are helping one person, that’s giving back and it’s something as simple as this,“ said Ella.