A Hyla Tradition Continues

by Cindy Schacht, middle school Math teacher

A History of Service at Hyla

Community service has been a strong tradition and core value since Hyla was founded. For many years, Hyla students have contributed to the Bainbridge, Kitsap, and Seattle communities through a variety of programs, just a few of which include stocking shelves at Helpline House, donating time and supplies to Coffee Oasis in Bremerton and Poulsbo, and serving meals at a women’s shelter in South Seattle.

Starting with the words of our school motto, “we take care of each other,” the spirit of service begins here on campus, expands to our surrounding communities, and then extends further afield as students launch into the world. As Hyla grads go on to their next pathway in life, they often continue a practice of service as a way to continue the work and commitment they made during their years in the Hyla community. Hyla grads come back to tell us about their volunteer work with different organizations. Over the years, here are just some of the ways Hyla grads have served the communities and causes they care about:

• Amina Lee served as a volunteer firefighter in Western Washington.
• Sydney Sorensen was Hyla’s library intern at the middle school for a year.
• While serving as a postdoctoral research associate at Yale, Zach Lewis did science outreach with youth from lower income backgrounds.
• Grace Miles volunteered as a peer advisor with the Princeton Sexual Harassment Resources and Education Center.
• In Portland, Maine, Alex Barker volunteered at Let’s Get Ready, a non-profit college readiness program for lower-income students.
• Audrey Covert worked with a body-positive/inclusive fashion show to promote inclusivity in the industry and provide a platform for people to tell their stories.
• Justin Hanseth worked with Village Health Works to provide healthcare throughout Africa and here in WA state supported renewable energy volunteering with WA Cleantech Alliance.

Service & Stewardship This Year

This year in grades 6-8, community service takes on a new rotating format with teachers and students, allowing multi-grade groups to work and learn together. Each week during the long block Elective, one Clean Crew leaves campus with a teacher to complete an hour of service beyond Hyla’s campus. Here are some of the projects we’ve worked on so far this year:

In early fall we were farm hands at Peaceful Morning Farm. John Chang, Hyla dad, runs this organic community garden in his spare time to produce fresh, seasonal produce for Helpline House. Students picked end of season raspberries, tomatoes, and prepared garlic to be planted. All the harvested food was donated to Helpline House, which some students even got to see firsthand when we volunteered at the food bank a few weeks later. 

Thanks to David, who connected us with the Parks Department, we’ve met with their staff each month at different locations to support trail clean up, park improvement, and invasive species removal.

We continue our long collaboration with Helpline House, and during work visits students organize donations, clean shelves, and improve the shopping experience for the food bank. 

Just before winter break, we marked Hyla’s celebration for the holiday season by giving time and attention to our community. During our day of service, students and teachers worked in multi-grade groups at different locations in partnership with several organizations to support their work:

-One group worked alongside the BI Parks & Trails Foundation at the Moritani Preserve to round up storm debris and plant over 100 native plants to support an ongoing restoration project. You can read more here on the BIP&T blog.
-Another group worked at the MS campus removing invasive plants. 
-One group went to Helpline House to create over 60 meal bags to be distributed to local youth during the two-week Winter Break when schools were closed.

Forward with Gratitude

For the rest of the year, we’ll continue to support local organizations in our local community with weekly rotations, supporting Helpline House, the Parks Department, and Peaceful Morning Farm. Each service project is a chance for students to get to know other students from different grades, serve a need beyond our campus, work in a different environment, and learn alongside the people who keep our community vibrant and healthy. To all of our friends at each of these organizations – John Chang, Cami Holtmeier, and many others – we send you a hearty Hyla thank you for welcoming Hyla students and teachers and for the chance to support your important work. 

We also thank Hyla students for their hard work! We are proud of them for embracing our school motto each week and for bringing their energy, enthusiasm, hard work, and fun to these important service projects that affect the lives of many other people in our community.