We provide the encouragement. Each SMS student is required to spend at least 12 hours each year in approved service activities. To meet the requirements of the new River Program, four of those hours must be water-related. In October, for example, a group cleaned bluebird boxes at the Tayloe Unit of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge. More than a third of SMS students routinely exceed the minimum service requirement, Ms. Conklin added.
Students also initiate service projects of their own.
Within two miles of campus, for example, some rural Essex County families live in unheated homes, a fact that prompted the student-led Basic Needs service organization to hold a winter clothing drive. The group, headed by senior Carol Combs and junior Emily Fisher, directs its energies toward providing food, shelter, and clothing for area residents. All of us want to see our counties, cities, and neighborhoods remain strong and healthy. These girls are the community leaders of tomorrow.