Seniors traditionally enjoy a day off after completing their October Life Skills Day. This year, seniors were instead invited to the Houston Food Bank—not for a typical day of volunteering, but to make amends.
In September, the Community Service board invited Christine Mompoint, the Manager of the Student Hero program at the Food Bank, to be the guest speaker at the annual Community Service assembly. With 800 students and faculty gathered in the VST, Mompoint spoke to the audience about her path into service and the importance of serving at our age.
Instead of inspiring respect and reflection within the student body, her words were met with disrespect and laughter. In an effort to make amends, Kevin Weatherill, Head of Upper School, and Claire Nuchtern, head of Community Service, created a plan to invite the senior class to volunteer at the Food Bank on their day off.
Weatherill, who has been in contact with Mompoint since the incident, notes how gracious both she and the Food Bank have been in the aftermath of the assembly.
“She was thankful to us for giving her a platform to speak,” Weatherill said. “She has also been tremendously understanding and knows that kids make mistakes sometimes—it’s part of their learning.”
Days after the assembly, faculty members met to discuss possible repercussions. Instead of settling on a punishment, attendees realized that any form of discipline would only harm the collective Upper School rather than the select students that participated in the act.
Nuchtern recalls how at the assembly, Mompoint was excited to speak because her best high school volunteers often come from the School.
“She trusted us, and now, it’s a question of how we repair that trust,” Nuchtern said.
On Oct. 4, Weatherill addressed the Upper School during the Jewish Affinity Group’s Chapel, which focused on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days. There, he invited seniors to voluntarily attend the Food Bank with him on Oct. 16 or 26. Weatherill believed the timing, though coincidental, carried a meaningful message of atonement and new beginnings—core ideas of both the High Holy Days and the motivation behind volunteering.
“Seniors lead Spirit Club, many of our sports and SAC,” Nuchtern said. “So, we decided to invite seniors to go as a gesture of support and be the leaders of our school.”
After their Life Skills Day on Oct. 16, 40 seniors went to the Food Bank, where they organized, sorted and packed crates of food. On Oct. 26, seniors who were unable to volunteer during the week joined Jamie Stires, Director of Fine Arts. For senior and Head Prefect Mark Doan, the knowledge that our actions have consequences, even when anonymous, prompted him to serve.
“You have to do things when you don’t want to or didn’t do anything wrong. It’s about stepping up and helping the situation,” Doan said.
Before the trip, Nuchtern hoped seniors would go support the Food Bank, make amends and give back in a meaningful way—a hope that Weatherill believes was fulfilled.
Watching the seniors take initiative and maintain a positive attitude made Weatherill proud. At the service event, Weatherill and Bailey Duncan, Upper School Dean of Students, witnessed seniors direct other student groups, make music playlists and hug their coworkers.
“We didn’t all wear the same shirt or go there to take pictures. We went there, finished, said good job and left,” Weatherill said.
