Service at Japhet

"With the gift of knowledge
and the understanding of moral and spiritual
values comes an obligation to help mankind."
-- Japhet School Philosophy, point 6

Giving students the opportunity to uplift humanity is an integral part of Japhet School. We believe that all children are inherently good, and they demonstrate daily a natural and innate desire to help and make the world a better place. By fostering this desire and providing opportunities during the school day and at home with their families, we strive to develop lifelong habits of service.

Our Monday morning INSPO assemblies are natural times to bring service opportunities to our students. They often work in multi-age groups on projects like making posters to promote a drive or making a craft that will become a gift.

Each year we have an overall theme, around which various activities are centered. Keep reading for a summary of what we've done recently. You are welcome to be a part of it!

2010/2011: Family

• Matrix Angel Tree: For the 2010 holiday season, we connected with Matrix Human Services in southeast Detroit. During our annual Family Service Night, we prepared more than 100 donated new presents and assembled 150 candy bags for Matrix to share with families who might not otherwise afford to purchase new presents.
• Coat Drive: Our Recycling Committee again sponsored a winter gear drive to benefit the South Oakland Shelter in Royal Oak. News of our drive was picked up by local papers, which more than tripled our donations!
• Dolls for India: Our students helped color, cut, and assemble more than 200 paper dolls for impoverished children in India. Japhet students were humbled to learn that they were making a child's very first and only toy. This service project was brought to Japhet by Rotary International.
• Cameron's Crusade: One of our own families, Julia and Kurt Wasiluk, have a special-needs child named Cameron. Julia and Kurt need support in obtaining new equipment that helps them transport Cameron, who is growing quickly. Specifically, they need a car lift, gait trainer, and a ramp for their home. Together with our Parent Support Group, we are dedicating service efforts in winter and spring to support this family with fundraising Family Fun Nights and a grassroots effort to build the ramp at their home. Julia teaches middle school math, helps in Early Childhood, and serves as a substitute. It is a joy to direct this special service project that touches a family's day-to-day life.

2009/2010: Neighborhood

• Holiday Hope: We fulfilled wishes for a local family in need in December. We donated new pillows, boots, winter coats, sheet sets, and more. Classrooms went on field trips to stores and booksellers to choose their own donations. It culminated in Family Service Night, when students and their families wrapped these presents together the evening before they were delivered.
• Coat Drive: Our Recycling Committee sponsored this drive for the South Oakland Shelter in Royal Oak, during the most critical months of January and February. Our families generously donated adult and children's coats, boots, mittens, and hats.
• 100-Day Celebration for the Detroit Rescue Mission: To honor the 100th day of school, Kindergarten and Primary Class students made a goal to collect 100 travel-size hygienic items to donate to this charity, and they collected nearly 300!
• Earth Day: Students are engaging in a variety of age-appropriate activities to celebrate Earth Day, from cleaning up our playground and neighborhood to decorating nearby Hollywood Market grocery bags with an Earth Day theme to remind neighbors to be green!
• Rouge Rescue: Japhet's fifth- through eigth-grade students are combining hands-on environmental science with service as they learn about the health of the Rouge River in spring.

2008/2009: World Hunger, in cooperation with Heifer International

Heifer International works to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. It provides livestock and training to small-scale farmers in poverty-stricken areas around the world. 

• Woolly Winter: Japhet families joined together to donate sufficient funds during the December holiday season to send a sheep to a community in need.
• Books for Bees: Japhet's Primary Class of first- and second-graders hosted a used-book sale to raise funds to send a beekeeping setup to a community in need.
• Rabbits to the Rescue: Japhet students were able to vote for a midyear animal focus, and chose to raise funds to send a trio of rabbits. During INSPO, students reported how they were working at home by doing extra chores like shoveling for neighbors, doing laundry, and more to earn money on their own.
• Sing for Goats! Japhet's Intermediate Class of fifth- and sixth-grade students sponsored a Talent Show in April, in which the whole school was involved! Admission funds were plentiful to send two goats to another community through Heifer.

Other projects:

Individual classrooms also initiate their own service projects in addition to the ones named above. In the past five years, some nonprofits that have benefited from Japhet students' efforts include:

Gleaners Food Bank
U of M Hospital oncology ward
U.S. troops in active duty
The Salvation Army
St. Jude's Children's Hospital
Michigan Humane Society
Community nursing homes
Detroit Zoo
Methodist Children's Home
Families with Children from China