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A Tradition of Caring
17th Annual Community Service Day
n Chemistry teacher Walt Warner and Emma Stein ’12 walk through a science experiment with
local third graders. Nicole Lee ’13
Taft’s 17th annual Community Service
Day was marked by good will, good
weather and good deeds.
More than 700 members of the
Taft community fanned out across
Watertown and its neighboring communities,
donating time and talent
to area children, seniors, churches,
environmental groups and charitable
organizations. Through 30 separate
projects, Taft students, faculty and staff
left their mark on the region.
“Community Service Day is a
wonderful Taft tradition that matters
hugely to many local organizations.
The groups we support have come
to depend on the thousands of hours
that students and faculty provide,” said
Headmaster Willy MacMullen.
This year, students painted a mural
at the Watertown Convalarium and
worked to fill the shelves at both the
Plymouth Community Food Pantry
and the food bank in Watertown. They
did trail maintenance and restoration
for the Connecticut Forest and Parks
Association, Flanders Nature Center,
Bethlehem’s Bellamy-Ferriday House,
and the Bent of the River Audubon
Society in Southbury. They carried an
anti-drug message to schoolchildren in
Waterbury, worked with local students
on the Taft School campus, and supported
the Acts 4 Clothing Ministries.
Where there was a need, there were
many hands.
“The day is an embodiment of our
motto, Not to be served but to serve,”
said MacMullen. “Service happens at
Taft in countless ways and every week,
and we should remember that, but a
public day—where we stop our normal
business of academics—provides a different
kind of affirmation of what we
believe in as a school.”
Fourteen Taft students traveled to the
Children’s Community School (CCS) in
Waterbury to help with the “Red Ribbon
Carnival Celebration.” Red Ribbon
Week is the oldest and largest drug prevention
campaign in the country.
“For the older CCS students—the
4th and 5th graders—drug awareness
is, sadly, real. But for the younger
students the carnival is more about
having fun on the playground with high
school students,” said Academic Dean
Jon Willson ’82. “The day was a natural
extension of the ongoing work students
do in Jamella Lee’s Service Learning
course each week with CCS; their
students and staff were enormously appreciative
of our efforts.”
This year’s biggest and newest
project was the Watertown Greenway
initiative. Forty-two football players,
along with their coaches, managers
and two other faculty members,
cleared brush, invasive weeds and
garbage at the site of Watertown’s muchanticipated
greenway. With construction
there set to begin next spring,
the work is both timely and necessary.
Siemon Company President and CEO
Carl Siemon visited students at the site
to thank them for their efforts, as did
Town Manager Charles Frigon.
“We encourage our students to think
about our motto every day,” explained
Community Service Day coordinator
Jeremy Clifford. “Setting one day
aside that is devoted to living it allows
students to make connections with programs,
peers and organizations that we
hope will continue. It also gives them a
tangible understanding of the genuine
difference volunteer service makes in
our community.”
12 Taft Bulletin Winter 2012