What are schools doing to reinforce Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” Each year, the Corporation for National and Community Service honors Dr. King’s legacy by asking Americans to make the King holiday a national day of service.

On Jan., 18, 2010, people of all ages and backgrounds will come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers and to move our nation closer to the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned. Dr. Martin Luther King devoted his life’s work to causes of equality and social justice. He taught that through nonviolence and service to one another, problems such as hunger and homelessness, prejudice and discrimination can be overcome. Dr. King’s teachings can continue to guide us in addressing our nation’s most pressing needs—poverty, economic insecurity, job loss and education.

Legacy Traditional School will be answering the call by discussing ways to service our community. Rather than having a day off of school where all too often students are indirectly taught to ignore the importance of the day, Legacy students will have a half day to learn about civil rights and answer Dr. King’s questions.

The day will consist of activities ranging from reading stories to creating community service projects the school may adopt. Students will spend time away from their normal instruction and spend the entire morning learning about various contributors to the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, students from third through ninth grade will create ideas for a community service project that Legacy’s student council will vote to adopt. The younger students in kindergarten through second grade will also learn about community service by completing their own community service project on campus Jan. 18.

In researching Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Legacy administrators discovered that Disney also offered a Give-a-Day, Get-a-Day promotion, facilitating community service throughout our nation. Legacy jumped on the idea and created service projects for anyone to sign up. One project involves working in the school library on a Saturday to barcode new books and organize materials. A second project, creating a garden box for students to plant seeds later in the year, will allow students to grow and harvest fruits and vegetables to be donated to the local food bank.  The interest in volunteering was overwhelming, and all 200 available volunteer spots were filled within three hours of being posted!

As the day nears, take a moment to decide how you will answer Dr. King’s question?

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