Honoring the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through Service Learning

Evansville Day School will be the only local school in session on Monday, January 21, and we’re doing it with intention. As an independent school, Day School has the flexibility to create unique learning experiences for our students, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is no exception.

Head of School Kevin Kunst shares, "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that 'Life's most persistent and urgent question is - what are you doing for others?' We are proud as an institution to celebrate his life by spending a day discussing what it means to be a person of character, what it means to identify inequalities and injustices, and what it means to take action through love and service.”

Instead of taking the day off, students throughout the school will honor the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by learning about him and participating in a variety of service learning projects.

After learning about Dr. King in their classrooms, preschoolers and students in Kindergarten through fourth grade will give back by:

• Making blankets and port pillows for Chemo Buddies

• Decorating boxes for a used book collection to benefit the community

• Writing letters for Operation Gratitude

• Creating seasonal door decorations for nursing home residents

Students in fifth through twelfth grades will partner together to explore Dr. King’s speech “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?” and discuss in small groups. Students will then gather into pairs to create profiles of famous servant leaders. The profiles will create a museum-style mural displayed within the school. During the afternoon, students in grades 9-12 will travel to the University of Evansville to participate in their on-campus MLK Day activities.

“When we talk about producing a balanced, globally minded graduate at Day School, Dr. King's words are foundational in defining what that looks like,” explains Kunst, “and so we are hopeful by inspiring our students to serve others on this day, that it reinforces these lessons."

Evansville Day School’s unique educational experience allows our students and faculty to participate in bold and rewarding opportunities, inspiring balanced, resilient, globally minded, entrepreneurial learners, who will be the innovators of the future.