Giving back to their local area through community outreach efforts and at various events throughout the summer, inspires Landmark Academy at Reunion students and staff to continue displaying their Moral Focus virtues even while away from school.
Landmark’s eighth-grade graduating class raised money throughout the year to put towards their end of year events, which were ultimately canceled due to COVID-19. The class came together and decided to put the money to good use, providing a meal for essential, life-saving employees at Platte Valley Medical Center.
After many virtual discussions, the eighth-grade classes agreed that they wanted to do something positive for the community during the pandemic. Landmark’s teachers worked closely with the students to determine how to utilize the “2020 graduating class” funds to support local healthcare providers. “Students wanted to make a difference!” said Peg Kastberg, principal at Landmark Academy.
Landmark partnered with El Jardin, a local, family-owned restaurant, to deliver 250 breakfast burritos to local healthcare partners. The group took a trip, in early May, to visit the medical center to meet with hospital administrators and healthcare providers.
“The doctors, nurses, and staff were very grateful and overwhelmed by the generosity of these young people who chose to use their money to support them,” said Kastberg. “This was another great example of students acting on the Moral Focus virtue of compassion and the respect for others that Landmark students strive to model.”
Kastberg shared that Landmark is a “Leader in Me School,” based on the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” She reflected on the encouragement she and other school leaders provided to make this donation position, saying; “We believe and promote that everyone can be a leader. Everyone has genius and that change starts with me. We encourage community service in our students.”
Students made the trip more memorable by presenting the essential workers with hand-written notes, cards, and messages, thanking them for the hard work and dedication in addition to providing the breakfast.
“At Landmark, we teach our students that leadership matters. We teach about the importance of our Moral Focus virtues and how every single person makes a difference,” said Kastberg. “We promote community service projects in all our kindergarten through eighth-grade students.”
Spreading the joy and dedication to their community a bit closer to home, Landmark also recently hosted a “Come Grow with Us” event in early June. The event provided an opportunity for kindergarten students to complete their summer screening ahead of the upcoming school year and to plant a flower to take home as a reminder for the year ahead. During the day, the school hosted a used uniform sale for kindergarten families.
“It was a hot, 97-degree day, and we were outside the entire time,” said Shondell Johnson, admissions representative at Landmark. “During the day we met nearly 70 of our new families! It felt so great to be back and our families were all excited and happy to be here.”
Way to go, Landmark!