School-Wide Day of Service
On April 15, 2025, faculty, staff, and students came together for Falk Cares, the first schoolwide Day of Service at Falk. Organized by faculty members Megan O’ Brien, Emma Kagan, Hilary Hairston, Elizabeth King, Kevin Felter, and Jill Sarada, the event featured a special morning assembly followed by an hour and a half of service projects in and around the school community.
Caitlyn Crowder and Samantha Varela, from the Office of Engagement and Community Affairs at University of Pittsburgh, kicked off the morning with a kid-friendly discussion of community, volunteerism, and civic engagement. They explained that communities can be small, like your lunch table, classroom, or family, or big, like the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or even the United States. They also encouraged students to follow their passions when it comes to serving the community. If you’ re a nature lover, did you know you can volunteer at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens? If you love sports, what about being a referee or volunteer coach when you’ re older?
After their remarks, four students from fifth grade read“ Just Help!: How to Build a Better World,” a book by Sonia Sotomayer about lending a hand for big and small causes alike. Afterward, students were dismissed for service work.
Second graders set off on a walking field trip to collect trash in local neighborhoods, while their kindergarten and first-grade peers stayed behind for spring cleaning throughout the school. Third grade settled in to decorate placemats for Meals on Wheels, and fourth graders made several kinds of dog toys for Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh.
In fifth grade, students divided into groups to catalog classroom books, tend to the Falk Woods herb and flower boxes, help with school cleaning duties, or sort art supplies. Middle School students also split up, with some groups traveling into the community while others stayed at Falk to pack care bags, repair classroom and playground equipment in the WonderLab, organize the physical education supply closet, and tidy up the Middle School science room.
Off-campus projects included band and chorus performances at the Healthy Active Living( HAL) Senior Center in Greenfield, a trash and invasive species clean-up at South Side Park, and a trip to the Community Human Services food pantry in Oakland.
Already, students and teachers are expressing their gratitude for the day and hoping to repeat the event annually. As one sixth grader said, there’ s so much more to be done! ■
FALK LABORATORY SCHOOL | UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 10