MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis charter school is giving students a lesson outside of the classroom by teaching middle schoolers and high schoolers the importance of taking care of their own neighborhood.
Memphis Rise Academy wants to teach students about responsibility, commitment, and ambition. In fact. the executive director of the school. Jack Vuylsteke. says it’s a part of their core values.
“Being someone who doesn’t just look at something and say that is the status quo, but looks at it says, ‘I can be apart of making that better,'” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, about 50 student volunteers and 17 teachers and administrators from Grahamwood, Highland Heights, Berclair and Raleigh will go into the very neighborhoods they live in and roll up their sleeves to be the change they want to see.
“This is an opportunity for them to literally go around their own neighborhood, clean up and see the impact on a day-to-day basis,” Vuylsteke said.
The project aims to instill in students a sense of pride for their own communities while teaching them the power they have to make a difference.
“Let them see the ability that if they get in there and do the hard work, they can make a change for the community and obviously, for Memphis as a whole,” he said.
Rise Academy wants the day of service to spark a desire for students to embrace committing to community service as a way of life. The school plans to do more initiatives like this one and wants to partner with businesses to keep the initiative going.
Saturday’s day of service starts at 1 p.m. and wraps up at 4.