GPS students and faculty will partner with more than 30 area nonprofit agencies and organizations across Chattanooga next Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service. Amal Ali ’19 will represent GPS at the city-wide kickoff event on the campus of UTC, where she will read from Dr. King’s last speech.
Trish King, Middle School history teacher, and Sarah Jackson, Upper School dean of students, as active members of the city-wide planning committee, have worked closely with the City of Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs since last July.
Ms. King has spent months coordinating the event, reaching out to members of the community to identify areas of need, assigning students and faculty members to projects that align with preferred causes or organizations based on survey responses and arranging all aspects of the day. “We want students to consider: What are some small ways we can keep the spirit of service alive each and every day?” says Ms. King, who also sponsors the school’s Partnership in Community (PIC) service organization.
Students will meet on campus at 7:45 a.m. and then will depart, along with GPS faculty and staff chaperones, for various projects across the area. Some of the organizations GPS will be partnering with include: American Cancer Society, Chambliss Center for Children, Chattanooga Rescue Mission, Chattanooga Theatre Centre, Crabtree Farms, Girls on the Run, Hospice of Chattanooga, Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain Conservancy, Lula Lake Land Trust, Maclellan Island Clean Up, Operation Gratitude, Outreach In East Lake, Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center, Salvation Army, Scenic Cities Beautiful, SEED - Identity & Diversity, Sew2Serve at Glenwood YFD Center, The Bethlehem Center, Widow's Harvest Ministries, YMCA, and Women's Fund of Greater Chattanooga.
After returning to campus, the girls will have lunch and then hear from Donivan Brown, Outreach coordinator with Empower Chattanooga, at 1 p.m. in Frierson Theatre. Mr. Brown is a consultant, writer and organizer who focuses on a variety of community growth challenges in the area of critical race theory and racial reconciliation. He is co-founder and principal teacher in a city-wide conversation on race, known as Forty Folks, and studied at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He will present “The Dream Cycle of Dr. King” to students and faculty.