SPEF’s Stamford Mentoring Program Connects Elementary School Students with High School Mentors for Community Service Projects

STAMFORD, CT – December 17, 2015 – SPEF announces students from Roxbury Elementary and Julia A. Stark Elementary Schools have wrapped up their Service-Learning experience as part of the Stamford Mentoring Program. This culminated in community service projects aimed at helping students learn about the joy and importance of giving back to their community. Thirty-six 5^th grade students from Stark Elementary made a trip to the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County with their mentors from Stamford High School. The group spent an hour to help the food bank receive and organize food donations. The mentors and students also learned about poverty and the importance of food banks through an educational video and an interactive discussion with the Executive Director, Kate Lombardo. Forty-four 3^rd grade students from Roxbury Elementary created festive holiday cards and posters with their mentors from Westhill High School for hospice clients of Compassus Hospice Palliative Care. Volunteers from the organization will distribute the cards and posters locally. The Stamford Mentoring Program’s service- learning component is offered to third and fifth grade students at Roxbury, Stark, Newfield and Hart Elementary Schools. While the Stamford Mentoring Program will serve over 700 students from grades 3-5, the service-learning component will reach 350 by years end. The mentors participating at Roxbury and Stark locations are high-performing seniors from Westhill and Stamford High School. All mentoring sessions culminate with a community service project. During weekly mentoring sessions, mentors and mentees discuss topics related to service-learning, such as civic engagement, community service, and leadership.