Students in every grade level on both Bolles lower school campuses have been busy this season meeting community needs. While service is emphasized throughout the year at Bolles, interest peaks during the holidays as teachers work to instill “others first” lessons via hands-on experiences.

On the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, students’ service projects varied greatly in each classroom. Pre-K students collected items for Jewish Family and Community Services while Kindergarteners collected toys for the Wolfson Children’s Hospital Holiday Toy Drive. First-graders ordered goods online and sent them directly to the Ronald McDonald House and students in Grade 2 collected supplies and made blankets for local service dog organization, Project Chance. Third- and fifth-graders made homemade snowmen cards and reindeer candy canes and wrote short holiday notes for residents in a nearby assisted living facility. They also offered canned good donations to a local food bank. Students in Grade 4 donated to Make-A-Wish and The Jane Goodall Institute. Students earned the money they donated by doing chores around their homes.

Community service was equally as active and exciting on the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus. There, students and teachers worked on meaningful projects to inspire goodwill in the community.

Pre-K students created cards and posters for residents at the Taylor Residence Assisted Living facility to spread holiday cheer. Kindergarten students joined peers in grades 1 and 3 to make care packages for the Bolles operations staff as a thank you for all they do for the Whitehurst Campus. In Grade 2, students supported Trinity Rescue Mission in downtown Jacksonville by providing gifts for children living there. Fourth-graders collected items for K9s for Warriors and participated in a Zoom meeting with a warrior and canine companion. In Grade 5, students created thumb print card designs for children at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

The varied nature of the service work demonstrates how creative and fun giving back to others can be! Great work showing all of us how to live out The Bolles Way: Pursuing excellence through courage, integrity and compassion.

For more photos of the holiday work, visit our online gallery here.