The East Hartford High School student body spent the day before Thanksgiving doing acts of service and community building.
“It’s really about getting together, helping out, doing stuff around the community to make it a better place,” said EHHS Senior Kyron Williams-Grant.
This annual school-wide program called Community Awareness Day expands every year. This year students were excited to be able to go back out into the community in ways that weren't possible over the last two years.
Students raked leaves for local residents and churches, washed the trucks at the fire department, and cleaned up local trails and parks.
“We have been raking leaves all over the grounds, we did the front lawn area, we did the parking lot and we did the playscape,” said EHHS Junior DeJalie Santiago, who was one of the students helping out at South Congregational Church. “It feels good because it’s not something I normally do. So it feels nice helping out sometimes.”
Other students dispersed to district elementary and middle schools leading activities for younger learners and answering their questions about high school.
“Our group that got to come to [O'Connell School], a lot of us went here, so it’s nice to give back to the school that we once went to and help these kids out,” said EHHS Senior Lourdes Rodriguez.
Through all of these projects and activities, the goal is to send students off on Thanksgiving break with a deeper appreciation of their surroundings and a more developed sense of how they can help those who are less fortunate.
To see more highlights and perspectives from Community Awareness Day, check out the video below produced by the EHHS Video Production Class.