Community Service Day

Embracing a tradition begun by its founder, Horace Dutton Taft, The Taft School held its 12th annual Community Service Day on Monday, October 22. Approximately 650 faculty and students worked on a record number of projects (58) in the greater Waterbury area.

“Community service day is one of the most important events on our calendar,” says Willy MacMullen, Taft’s headmaster, “and it is both proof and reminder of Mr. Taft’s motto, Not to be served but to serve, and a great way to maintain strong, enduring ties between Taft and the community.”

This year three students--Maddy Bloch, Glendys Rodriguez and Meg Culbertson--played a major role in the organization of the event, as student directors of the Community Service Day Project, and provided critical support and organization in the planning of the event.

Highlights of the outreach this year, which had perfect weather, include trail maintenance for the CT Forest and Park Association; working for the Woodbury Parks and Recreation Department; helping on a Habitat for Humanity project; assisting the Brass City Ballet and the Thomaston Opera House; assisting in trail maintenance at the Flanders Nature Center, and numerous projects for local houses of worship.

In recent years, Community Service Day hosts elementary students from the Judson School to attend “classes” at Taft during the day. The students participate in educational workshops and extracurricular activities. Some of the classes offered are “Physics Fun”, “Japanese Culture”, “French Culture”, and “Fun with Statistics”. Athletic clinics will be conducted in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and using the Taft Climbing Wall. Each youngster is paired with a Taft student who acts as a mentor for the day. Taft students also travel to the Polk and Judson schools to run programs with more than120 of their students

Roberto D’Erizans, who coordinated this year’s event, estimates a total of 5200 man and woman hours were expended in a single day. “Opportunities for service allow us to see, first hand, the positive role played by charitable organizations in our extended community," he said. "While our Community Service Day is just one day, it is an event that inspires us to reach out, and throughout the year. In a community where we are challenged everyday, this is our opportunity to help others in their daily challenges and learn from each other.”

The school also extends many thanks to local businesses who donated materials to the event. Young's of Woodbury, Hosking Nursery of Watertown, Schmidt's and Serafine's of Waterbury, Planters Choice, The Garden of Woodbury, and Marks Landscape of Watertown all donated to the event and help make several of the projects possible.

The Bob and Sally Gries Fund, established in 1997, provides support for the Community Service Program and Community Service Day at the Taft School.