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Helping Hands
Rectory Headmaster Fred Williams, and Scott Greene, director of Individualized Instruction Program (IIP), led students in cleaning a barn at a nearby farm for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Courtesy photo.
POMFRET — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day the middle school students and faculty at The Rectory School devoted the time for reflection and action based on Dr. King’s message to serve others.
At Assembly two students, Sebega and Qing Qing each shared personal stories of service projects they participated in during the summer. Afterwards, 200 students were involved in a variety of activities on campus and in the area. Organized by parent, Anne Guevremont and Headmaster Fred Williams, the volunteer offerings included playing basketball with sailors visiting from the Groton Naval base, playing board games and reading poetry to people in retirement facilities, performing instrumental music at nursing homes, collecting canned goods for the homeless, clearing horse trails, and cleaning barns. It was a day to give back by working willingly for the benefit of others.
Rectory’s guest speaker in the afternoon session was Grace Akallo who talked about her experiences as a child abducted at the age of 15 in Uganda, Africa. Akallo, author of Girl Soldier, shared her courageous story about her escape from her abductors in the (LRA) Lord’s Resistance Army of Joseph Kony, who severely mistreated her along with many other children. She spoke of the destruction that Kony has brought to Uganda and the power that one person has to stop the violence by telling her story. Akallo is founder and executive director of United Africans for Women and Children Rights whose mission is to raise awareness of the need to safeguard the rights of vulnerable women and children subject to abuse and neglect.