Bishop Seabury Academy

5 T he lockdown in March shut down schools and nearly everything else. By May, many of us in the Seabury community were ready to get out and do something! Whether it's service in the community or engagement in civic life, helping others is not only valuable intrinsically, but it also boosts mental health and resilience—something we all need more of, especially during this crisis. This has been a time when older volunteers who normally devote many hours to service had to step back from their work in many organizations. Unexpectedly, I had to take on the role of organizing voter registration and education events for the League of Women Voters. As we gradually restarted our efforts, quite a few folks in the Seabury community were eager to get involved. All events have been held outdoors with masks required. Students and alumni parent Mara Aubel have helped distribute food from Harvesters every other Tuesday morning at the fairgrounds. Other volunteers have included Donna and Andrew Lang, Jeffrey Smrha- Monroe, Gisele French, Lyle Griggs, Hugh Griggs, Evan McHenry, Zeb Brinson, Helena Gutierrez-Gibbs, Stevie Dean Jackson, Shamus Sawyer, Gisele French, Elena Weber, Liam Smith, and Gitte and Sofie Nordengaard. Students Matthew Petillo, Gisele French, Margaret Mulhern, Bella Ogborn, Cesslie Winslow, Helena Gutierrez-Gibbs, and Sage McHenry, along with alumna Gabriella Aubel, have all helped out at League tabling events as well. With just a few weeks before the election, I encourage anyone who is interested to contact me about opportunities to help register and get out the vote! This election season, students Lyle Griggs, Matthew Petillo, Morgan Orozco, and Elena Weber also worked for candidates running for office. Students found many other opportunities to serve during these strange times. Marie Brockhoff made over 80 cloth masks for local groups! She also counseled 4-H youth over Zoom. Jude Black helped maintain the Hidden Valley grounds, and Audrey Nguyen-Hoang baked treats for local firefighters. Several faculty continued their work with local service organizations or started something new. James LaRocca volunteered at Operation Wildlife in Linwood; Cris Bryan built houses for Habitat for Humanity; Leslie McCaffrey worked at Just Food; Krista Barbour collected information for a neighborhood history project; Margie Lawrence was in charge of shopping for the elderly neighbors on her street; and Bill Gollier continued his longstanding relationship with the Lawrence Community Shelter by supporting their groundskeeping. No one asked for this crisis, but every crisis can be an opportunity to learn, serve, and make a difference. Yours respectfully, Ms. Sonja Czarnecki Dean of Students learn, serve, and MaKe a differenCe We bid farewell to our seniors on August 8, 2020. We wish them well and can't wait to welcome them back as alumni!

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