Winterim Service Trip to Mississippi
On
March 4, a group of 41 students from Heathwood Hall’s Upper
School departed Columbia on a service mission to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This
week, they are working to restore this Gulf Coast community, which
is still devastated months after Hurricane Katrina. This unforgettable
trip is giving the students an opportunity to serve neighbors in
need, appreciate and count their own blessings, and witness the remarkable
spirit and strength of people persevering through a horrific natural
disaster.
Students and their adult chaperones are sleeping on the floor of an area
home, rising each day to labor in designated worksites and using the local
St. John's Episcopal Church as their mission’s base of operations. The
clean-up and rebuilding efforts began on Monday and will continue through
Wednesday, 8 March. The
group departs Ocean Springs on Thursday, overnights in Atlanta, tours the city
on Friday, and then arrives back in Columbia Friday evening.
Throughout
the week, students will be writing daily journals to reflect on their experiences
and selected pieces will be e-mailed back to the school each day. The group
also is sending back digital photos of the students in action. Click the links on the left
to read the students’ work or view pictures.