Friday, April 28, 2017

Sam Gramer - 8th Grade

With the help of my sister and parents, together we made 100 activity bags to give to children who need to visit or stay at Children's Hospital of Detroit. Activity bags are often given to patients who have to wait in the clinic areas, the Emergency Department or sometimes to patients that are not able to leave their inpatient room at the hospital. We hope that the activity bags will help to keep the children occupied and put a smile on their faces.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Lawson Simich - 8th Grade

My name is Lawson Simich; I am an eighth grader here at DCDS, and I am a Boy Scout at Troop 1032. My troop does a lot of service projects around the community, and we are rewarded with pride in the accomplishment. An example of an activity was when we went to Pontiac and helped a public-school pack Thanksgiving dinners for those who couldn't afford it. Many people from local schools were there, and we worked to give these people a happy Thanksgiving. Another thing we did was build a massive mobile greenhouse for a farm, which specifically helped feed the local poor as well. Things like this make us feel great about ourselves, knowing that we helped someone that day. Most of the time we work at our church, which is the FUMC (First United Methodist Church), where we get a lot done; we planted trees, cleaned the grounds and helped with food drives. Every year, we have one weekend we call "Scout Sunday" where we go on Saturday morning to the FUMC (First United Methodist Church) and we help them out all day. The best one for everyone is probably the Eagle projects, which is the final step in becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in scouting. The last step is to do some kind of project that helps the community in some way shape or form. When our friends are doing this, it gives us pride that we are helping our friends complete the last part of their scout journey. People at school who are with me in Boy Scout Troop 1032 are Chris Davis, Chris Gilmer-Hill, Griffin Geiger, Carson Chao, Christian Bepler, Abhinav Reddy, Mason Kosch, Alex Matthews, Rajeev Khabhatla, Jake Ross, Brody Ross, and Henson Strasberg.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Ian Zhu - 9th Grade

Ian Zhu took a trip to Miami during spring break to receive golf lessons from his coach. While there, Ian decided to teach others how to golf by volunteering at The First Tee. With that, he learned the value and the joy of giving back to the community and contributing to society.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Keegan Haines '14



Keegan Haines, Class of 2014, recently spearheaded a fundraising event with his fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon of Arizona State University, which supported the Gordie Howe Alzheimer’s Foundation. This inaugural event, included playing a hockey game against the Arizona Coyote NHL Alumni team on February 3rd. DKE raised over $6,000, which the Coyote alumni matched. Keegan was also invited to attend and play in the Gordie Howe C.A.R.E.S. Pro-Am Hockey Tournament in Calgary the weekend of April 7th. For more information about the foundation, please visit: www.gordiehowecares.com

Monday, April 24, 2017

Akash Rau - 11th Grade

I had a t-shirt drive at DCDS last year and I was able to bring over 100 t-shirts for the children at an orphanage, Sri Krishna Balaniketan, in South India. There I was able to teach the children how to use Microsoft Office as well as teach them conversational English. It was amazing to see their reactions when they opened their boxes of shirts. Their smiles really made me feel how great of an impact I made in their community.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Amaris Grubaugh - 4th grade



I was asked in a class at church to find something I was concerned about, and then work to do something to help people. In February, to go along with Valentine's Day, I decided to try and do something to help refugees. Refugees are people who may have lost their homes, or are fleeing war, famine, or disease. They are often scared about their future. Refugees include those who can be old or young. I am selling Love a Refugee bracelets to raise awareness that refugees are human beings, and to raise money to help support their needs.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Class of 2023


Service Learning is an important part of the 6th grade team's commitment to helping students make a positive difference in the world around them. For more than fifteen years we have partnered with Alcott Elementary school in Pontiac. DCDS students are paired with a student in Kindergarten - 2nd grade; visiting with the students twice during the year to read and leave them with books to add to their personal home library. In the months between visits, sixth graders write to their elementary 'buddy' and send hats, mittens, playground toys, and holiday treats. Making a difference in the lives of our Alcott buddies has become a tradition that we look forward to in a very personal way each month.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Brian Yang - 9th grade


I went to the Middle School Science Olympiad team to be student coach of Dynamic Planet. I prepared the material before I go to the coach session. Then, every Monday after school for one hour, I led the students to go over the notes and do practice tests to assess their learning. As a result, I led the primary team to get 5th and alternative team to get 6th in regionals for Dynamic Planet.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Evan Larson - 6th Grade

I helped pack lunches for homeless children in Detroit via a program called Snack Pax at Our Lady Queen on Martyrs School in Beverly Hills, MI. We packed over 400 lunches and snacks. The items were delivered to the children and families the next day by the church. I felt good that I was able to help those less fortunate. I am going to do this every month, and I might help deliver the food next time.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Maureen O’Reilly Baudhuin '84

Our family recently donated a unique library to our beloved Omni Montessori School in Charlotte, NC ..... a treehouse library! It was featured on Animal Planet's Treehouse Masters show this past January.The library was crafted to resemble an owl (our school mascot) and it is truly a work of art. Bookshelves made of different species of local wood, a Fibonacci spiral seating area, bright windows ... it's a lovely space in the trees for reading and dreaming.My husband and I feel so grateful that our three daughters have had the chance to learn and grow at this beautiful school. This project was a way for us to give back to a community that has given us so much.There are countless ways to be of service!

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Elizabeth Leitao - Faculty Member



Nearly 4 years ago, a dear friend of mine introduced me to a small non-profit doing extraordinary work in Detroit with LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness, Ruth Ellis Center (REC). At the time, I had no idea how many young people faced homelessness due to family rejection based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, but the thought alone made me want to do more. Three months later, I found myself joining their board of directors, volunteering whatever time and resources I could, and learning everything I could about what these young people were facing. 

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Vivek Sharma & Vishal Sharma - 8th Grade


Volunteering at the Capuchin Soup KitchenWhile we often like to say how busy and hectic things are at school and over the weekends one of our goals this year was to serve our community. My brother Vishal and I are in 8th grade at the middle school and our mom helps find us many opportunities to volunteer throughout the year in the local community.We don[?]t have to [?]find[?] time...we have to [?]make[?] time is what she says and she is right. We always make time for the things we want to do and volunteering is one of them. Days on which school is closed for meetings or other holidays provide a great opportunity since the schedule is posted in advance as do weekends, we did several this year and I want to highlight one which was [?]a day at the soup kitchen[?]We arrived at this building in a run down neighborhood in Detroit and were taken to the kitchen where we saw a video and understood the purpose of the mission and what we were to do. Then we put on aprons and were assigned our tasks at the food station; I was handing our condiments and Vishal was adding burgers to the sandwich. It was an orderly work-station that served over 300 people that day. A simple sandwich, fries, condiments and milk had the lines out of the door. There were kids as young as 3 and elderly who could barely walk. They had gratitude in their eyes for the food that was served and it made my brother and I appreciate how fortunate we were in our own ways. There were people who asked me for extra mayo and the supervisor explained that for some of them who didn[?]t have dinner these condiments would serve as a meal in a pinch..that really had us wondering about how much of a value this soup kitchen was providing. Why were they there? Why were they hungry? We understood to serve without judging those in need and also appreciated what we had received

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Malissa Bossardet - Current Parent

I work with special education advocates and Lt. Governor Brian Calley on special education reform in Michigan. Initially , with the help of other advocates we organized meetings all across the state to identify key issues that needed to be addressed in order to improve educational outcomes for students in special education. One of the key initiatives was the use of Restraint and Seclusion in our schools. With a lot of hard work and lobbying our legislatures, we were able to get a bill passed that prohibits Restraint and Seclusion. Under the legislation, restraint and seclusion practices may only be used if a child is a danger to themselves or others. The bills also require any use of restraint and seclusion to be reported both to the parents and the Michigan Department of Education, as well as requiring additional training for school personnel on how to handle behavioral situations.Pictured: photo credit Darling Dowling. Lt. Governor Brian Calley signed onto law, the Restraint and Seclusion bill.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Alex Williams - 6th Grade



Alex and her grandma (Nancy Meyer who also taught at DCDS) knit hats and scarfs for two organizations.

-         St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen in Detroit, MI  (4860 15th Street) where they feed hundreds of homeless men on a daily basis and the soup kitchen gives them hats and scarfs in the winter months
They also knit hats and scarfs for the Foster Care Program of Wayne county and that program takes in hundreds of children under the age of 18 who have nothing but the clothes on their back when they arrive.   Alex shared that making hats and blankets make her feel like she is doing something right, especially when she thinks about the need of the people she helps and contrasts this with the everyday basics that can very easily be taken for granted.  “I realize how fortunate I am and need to do what I can to help others.”