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!

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:

As stated in our philosophy, service at Japhet is a priority. Due to full-year, whole-school service themes and individual projects initiated by classrooms, our students have joined together to benefit organizations like Gleaners Food Bank, Salvation Army, Detroit Zoo, Michigan Humane Society, Covenant House, and much more.