St. Margaret’s officially launched its 2023 all-school service learning project this week, as leaders from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley met with Tartan students on Monday to give insight into their work and explain the needs of their organization.  

 

The all-school service learning project is a springtime tradition at St. Margaret’s, a chance for all divisions to unite and meet the existing needs of a partner organization, provide a cross-divisional opportunity for student learning, and rally the school community around a common purpose.

 

This year’s partner is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley, which serves local youth at three sites in South Orange County. As part of the project launch, leaders from the Boys & Girls Club visited with students at each division to introduce themselves and provide insight on the organization’s authentic needs that St. Margaret’s aims to support.  

 

Joining students on campus was Nicole Watson, associate executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley; Gabriella Littlejohn, area director; Summer Mejia, branch director in Aliso Viejo; Sara Stewart, branch director in San Juan Capistrano; and Jessica White, branch director at Rancho Santa Margarita.

 

The Boys & Girls Club mission is “to inspire and enable all youth to reach their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens by providing stimulating and challenging programs through interaction with dedicated, caring people.” Ms. Watson shared this mission with Tartan students, leading into an engaging discussion about serving the local community and specifically the youth of South Orange County, many of whom are around the same age as St. Margaret’s students.  

 

There are three ways for St. Margaret’s families to support the all-school service learning project:

 

 

Over the next three weeks, the school community will engage with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley, and each other, in a variety of ways. Students in Lower School, Middle School and Upper School will visit the San Juan Capistrano location next week. Students from different divisions will come together for learning opportunities related to the project, and the donation drive will culminate at the spring All-School Spring Eucharist on March 23, with a distribution to the Boys & Girls Club sites to follow.