Students reach out on MLK Jr. Day in a day of service

On Monday, Jan. 18, the school held its first annual Martin Luther King Jr. community service day. Ninety-seven students and 30 adult volunteers attended an event sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO).

The different activities included preparing food for a local charity, creating care packages for soldiers overseas, making cards for seniors and participating in a Quad cleanup and a beach cleanup trip.

Parents Sudha Sreenivasan and Dory Albert organized the service day with help from many other parents.

The main events were held at the school from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Despite the heavy rain and wind, students seemed eager to help their community.

The dinner for the San Jose Family Shelter project was prepared in the school’s kitchen. Students prepared a dinner that fed 100 people and was delivered that day.

Students volunteers also put together 600 care packages for overseas troops containing batteries, CDs, DVDS, electronic games, hotel-sized toiletries and healthy pre-packed snacks, all of which were donated by the community.

Another group made thank you cards for the soldiers, and Argonaut Elementary students made Valentine’s Day cards for them. This same group, that made cards for the soldiers salso made cards for seniors living at the Sunnyvale Retirement Center.

Another event included a campus cleanup project, in which 30 students worked to plant flowerbeds around the quad. The project received a $500 grant from PTSO to buy the plants.

“I was really pleased and amazed to see so many students and parents show up in the rain to plant flowers and shrubs around the quad,” said Albert. “Everyone did a wonderful job and worked so well together.”

Assistant principal Karen Hyde took seven students up to San Francisco for the beach cleanup event. But because of bad weather that included hail, the event was canceled for the day. Hyde proceeded by taking the students to a casual breakfast at a local restaurant as planned before heading back.

Parent Bonnie Nguyen said, “I’m really impressed and thankful for all the students that came and helped to make to make a difference today. The number of students showed up exceeded my expectations.”