April 16th through the 20th, Hillcrest Academy students stepped outside the classroom to turn their focus toward community service during their Service and Learning Term, or SALT. This is a program the school participates in every other year. It is defined by the district as a week-long innovative learning experience outside of the normal classroom that focuses on putting their beliefs into action by bringing service to others. Goals for the program include a sense of community and group dynamics for participants, service to others, exposure to new cultures and points of view, educational enrichment and spiritual and personal growth. This week, Hillcrest Academy SALT advisor Marcus Miller talked about how they choose projects and destinations, challenges related to the pandemic, and his goals for students. “This year with the pandemic the idea was to find local places to serve. In normal years it’s left up to teachers and some of their connections. For example, I had lived in Philadelphia for 10 years. So we managed to combine a group with a choir trip that was out east and I took a group to Philadelphia. We often work through Mennonite Churches and agencies to find places in different cities. For years, I took a group to Markham, a Chicago suburb. There’s a Mennonite Church there. We also try to have local options. I hope that students get the opportunity to see that we are a big country with many cultural differences but that people essentially are very much the same. We want what’s best for our kids and our families.”

Destinations previous to this year include Jackson, Mississippi, Chicago, Philadelphia, Puerto Rico, Mexico and local projects in southeast Iowa.