At Emma Willard School, Community Engagement and Social Impact programs exist at the juncture of the “head, heart, and hands” to create positive change in the world. These curated projects and community engagement opportunities (CEOs) take weekend activities by storm, boasting a completely full volunteer list and waitlist each week for engagement opportunities.
“Community Engagement and Social Impact programming at Emma has had a wonderful start to the year!” writes Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Gemma Halfi in these earliest weeks of the 2023–2024 school year.
Emma Willard students harvesting garlic at the Patroon Land Farm CEO.
Last year, Gemma focused programming on the discriminatory systems and policies that perpetuate food inequities in the United States, helping the Emma Willard School community think about making tangible, lasting changes in the city of Troy. This year sees CEOs returning to that theme:
“With a consistent focus on food insecurity [this year], students have had opportunities to work with local non-profit organizations such as food banks, shelters, food pantries, and farms that are all rooted in the mission of ending hunger right here in our own region.”
The Emma approach to community engagement offers flexibility and choice so that each student can choose the breadth and depth of their participation, from visiting the food pantry where food items are distributed to community members on a weekly basis, to food banks to organize food for pantries, to preparing meals to be served at shelters.
“The students who sign up to participate in weekend CEOs experience first-hand the importance of giving of one's time, energy, and resources to care for our own communities,” says Gemma.
Community Engagement programming provides an opportunity for students to make meaningful connections between classroom learning, personal beliefs, and the needs of local and global communities. These hands-on opportunities help to meet immediate needs while examining larger structures that perpetuate inequity and are challenged to think and problem-solve through the lens of equity and justice.
Students at the CEO last Saturday.
Most recently, students attended the Patroon Land Farm CEO on Saturday, September 16. The farm is run by the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York and helps provide enormous amounts of fresh produce to families and organizations, all because of the help of volunteers like Emma students!
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