School Life
Community Service
Service Builds Caring and Leadership
The Community Service program at The Benjamin School supports the School's mission by inspiring students to develop personal responsibility, concern for others and a commitment to serve society. The program also reinforces the School's character traits and strives to teach children how to apply knowledge and interactive skills that address important school and community needs. Students discover new interests and abilities, learn to work cooperatively and assume leadership roles, as they experience the value of caring and helping others. The entire Benjamin community of students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff work together to make a positive difference through a variety of community service efforts.
2024-2025 School-wide Community Service Initiative
Dear Members of The Benjamin School Community,
Every year, the school collaborates with a different organization or agency in a school-wide community service partnership. I am pleased to announce that the selection committee has approved a collaborative initiative with Friends of Foster Children (FOFC) for the 2024-2025 school year.
The mission of Friends of Foster Children is to enrich the lives of those impacted by foster care. The organization believes that it is never too late for any child to have a happy childhood. Their programming aims to provide enrichment activities for foster children to which they may not otherwise be exposed.
FOFC wants every child to realize that they are courageous, creative, and confident and that they have unlimited potential. It is interesting to see how closely this aligns with what The Benjamin School aspires to instill in its students. It is the hope of FOFC and The Benjamin School that this partnership will positively influence the lives of all of our children and students.
As you know, previous school-wide projects have addressed issues in the areas of hunger, homelessness, health, education, veterans, and hurricane relief. These projects have been extremely successful and meaningful thanks to all of you. Concern for others and a commitment to serve society are included in the school’s mission statement and have always been an integral part of Benjamin’s caring culture. Our school-wide community service projects enable us to bring the 12 Benjamin Values to life.
As we begin this year’s annual partnership, I would like to highlight some of the plans for the year that are already being made. These always expand because of the creativity and generous spirit of the Benjamin community. It is our hope that all Benjamin constituents will find a special way to become involved. Included below are some of the many TBS/FOFC partnered initiatives being considered for this year:
-
Friends of Foster Children administrators will give a presentation for Benjamin students
-
Pumpkins from the middle school advisory decorating contest will be donated to FOFC individual and group homes
-
WOW students will focus on the school-wide event as part of their Trike-a-Thon
-
Grade 1 will create festive Valentine’s Day gift bags for FOFC children to share with their caseworkers
-
Grade 2 will donate gently used games and puzzles
-
Grade 3 will donate Halloween costumes collected during their annual costume drive.
-
Toys and gifts from the annual Holiday Toy Drive will be given to FOFC to share with their children and teens; Benjamin students will be asked to bring a gift appropriate for someone their own age, if possible
-
FOFC is in need of used bikes and used laptops
-
Benjamin will conduct a collection of gently used clothing for school-aged children and teens
-
Upper School students will participate in a myriad of creative service projects through their various groups, including clubs
-
TBS will collect nightlights, blankets, underwear, socks, and pajamas
-
Middle School students will donate school supplies
-
Upper school students will donate gently used prom dresses
-
Tickets to Benjamin performances will be gifted to FOFC
-
The BPA and Alumni Association will also engage in projects to support FOFC
This is a sampling of activities being planned. I hope something here piques your interest. We encourage all members of our community to participate as we build upon our culture of kindness, generosity, and empathy. Benjamin takes great pride in its commitment to the school’s mission and to positively impacting our community.
Sincerely,
Susan Poncy
Director of Student Services (PK3-8)
Main Address & Lower/Middle School
11000 Ellison Wilson RoadNorth Palm Beach, FL 33408
Ph: 561.626.3747
A premier PK3 - Grade 12 independent, coeducational day school with campuses in North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. Since 1960, The Benjamin School has provided a challenging college preparatory education to a diverse student body in a structured, nurturing community environment.