St. Margaret's Partners With Special Camp for Educational Touchpoints as Part of All-School Service Learning Project

St. Margaret's kicked off its All-School Service Learning Project last month during the St. Margaret’s Day celebration. This year’s partnership is with Special Camp, an organization hosted by St. Margaret’s which brings youth with disabilities together with counselors for week-long day camps in the summer and activities throughout the school year. 

The All-School Service Learning Project will continue into the spring, with a service element involving the entire school community as well activities planned across all four divisions with the goal of deepening the commitment to inclusion, leadership, and community engagement.

These activities started last week, as Special Camp campers, counselors and Upper School student volunteers visited the Lower School to engage in activities and education centered around the disabled community. 

A particularly memorable part of each session was Musical Cones, an adaptive version of the classic game of musical chairs. By swapping out chairs for cones and making other slight adjustments, Special Camp's team demonstrated how small changes to traditional games can make them accessible to everyone regardless of ability.

“These activities fostered empathy and understanding while promoting the value of inclusive play,” Special Camp Director Lindsay Eres said.   

Throughout the sessions, Special Camp campers offered valuable perspectives. A special moment highlighted one of the campers teaching the Lower School students how to say Merry Christmas in American Sign Language (ASL). In addition, Upper School students served an essential role supporting Special Camp Staff modeling leadership and inclusion.

The Lower School students also had the chance to share some of their favorite games: tag, Sorry!, and hide-and-seek. Mrs. Eres and Associate Director Katie Schwartz led the Lower School students in brainstorming ideas to adapt these games to demonstrate how to make playtime more accessible. 

In addition to the educational touchpoints, the All-School Service Learning Project is also an opportunity to partner with and support the local community. St. Margaret’s will lead donation drives and other service opportunities in the months ahead to meet authentic needs within Special Camp and its community.