Students serve across Nashville during Community Action Day

By Sierra Smith, Communications Specialist

University School of Nashville’s High School held its annual Community Action Day on Monday, February 6. The schoolwide day of service took all 410 High School off campus for service projects.

The day began with an address from Lindsey Krinks, cofounder and interim co-director of Open Table Nashville, a nonprofit that focuses on issues of poverty and homelessness.

Krinks offered valuable insight by reflecting on her earliest days in activism and encouraged students to focus on doing service with a justice mindset rather than with a charity mindset.

“When we do service, we’re in a position of power right? We have something and we’re giving it to someone else,” Krinks explained. “But what does it look like to try to level that out a little bit and to move into relationships, ongoing relationships, where you can actually learn to be in solidarity with people?”

After Krinks encouraged students to focus on relationship building and find ways to continue to service long after Community Action Day, students traveled to 25 local organizations to support others in Nashville through volunteering. The organizations students volunteered with focused on four categories: education, environmental, food & housing, and global issues. 

Read about students’ Community Action Day experiences in their words below.

“Today 14 of my senior classmates and I hopped on a big yellow bus and headed over to Richland Head Start, an educational site dedicated to providing preschool education for underprivileged or disabled youth in the Nashville area. We were given the chance to teach a physical education class to the students who were ready and more than willing to jump into stretches with enthusiasm. We gave a quick spiel on why exercise is important, and then, to get their body's moving, we jumped right into some quick stretches, exercises, and classic games, including Red light, Green light; Duck Duck Goose; and Trees (a USN special). At the end of each of our time with each of the three groups, it was really heartwarming to see the smiles and to receive abundant hugs and high-fives from the students who wanted us to "come back tomorrow." After meeting with our last group we reconvened to eat lunch and reflect before hopping back on the bus. During this time we agreed that today was just as beneficial for us USN students as it was for the students of Richland; today our group learned that we all have something that we can share with the community and that the relationships made during the process of sharing are more than worth the effort it takes to share.” – Collin France '23

“For the first time in my High School experience, and in general, off-campus Community Action Day returned to USN. With only the senior class having experience with CAD, I was left anticipating a vague concept of the event. This quickly changed when I arrived at school on Monday. The speech given by Linsey Krinks from Open Table Nashville set the tone of justice and service work that we would see for the rest of the day. Following the speech, a group of about 20 students, including me, went to LP Pencil Box, where we would be doing our work. LP Pencil Box is a nonprofit that provides free school supplies to over 5,000 teachers from all 162 Metro Nashville Public Schools. When we arrived, an employee at LP Pencil Box welcomed us and began to give us a tour of the warehouse. When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was the very strong smell of crayons and the sheer quantity of school supplies they had. We started off divided into two groups: one unloading and moving pallets of scissors, eraser, and markers, the other, which was my group, organizing and moving shelves of school supplies. After the work of reorganizing and unloading was completed, people started cutting index cards, making color-coordinated notebooks, or making division flash cards. I started with the flashcards and quickly realized that my division skills needed brushing up, then I moved to making notebooks. After our time was up, I looked around and realized how much we had done, and yet how much could still be done for the warehouse. The experience of working at LP Pencil Box helped me further understand a need in our community. I had known that school supplies could be very expensive for teachers, but never really knew what I could do to help; my time at LP Pencil Box helped me understand the many ways — through donation or volunteering — I could help teachers and students in need.” – Annie Cox '24

“My group and I went to the McCabe Golf Course and picked up trash along the Richland Greenway. Our group was composed of all juniors, and our faculty chaperones were Mr. Chavez and Coach William. We arrived at the Wyoming trailhead around 10 a.m. and left at 1 p.m. While at the greenway, we split into two groups to divide and conquer our goal of picking up all the trash. We found many interesting items, including a frisbee, mittens, and lots of wrappers and soda cans. We filled up a couple of trash bags and felt accomplished with our work. While picking up trash, we played lots of music and had many excellent interactions with the community, especially those walking their dogs. Overall it was a great experience, and we all had lots of fun making our community a cleaner and better environment.” – Ryan Barrett '24

“The time my group spent at Thistle Farms made us appreciate the incredible work they do for women in our community and excited many students to lend a helping hand. Consisting of about 30 sophomores, the group took on Community Action Day with resolve, embracing a warm welcome from Jenniffer Clinger, the volunteer coordinator for Thistle Farms. As many students ate lunch from the Café at Thistle Farms, a cozy eatery providing dozens of women with stable incomes, Jeniffer began by telling us her incredibly moving story of resilience. She explained how the nonprofit helps women survivors — like her — recover from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction through housing, job security, and a supportive network of people. It wasn’t surprising that after she finished speaking, students were ready to do whatever they could to help the cause. The group split into two, half of the students taking on the mountain of litter in the surrounding area and the other half folding cards for marketing and outreach. I watched as the group dedicated themselves to their tasks, and was stunned with the outstanding results. The volunteers finished with two enormous boxes filled to the brim with cards, folded and ready to spread awareness about the organization. The students outside filled countless trash bags with waste, and, without being prompted, asked what else they could do to help. Jenniffer’s appreciation was clear, yet even clearer was the lesson she had taught us: Love heals.” – Cléo Gauthier '24

“Community Action Day was a great opportunity to learn about our Nashville community and assist in areas that are often overlooked and underserved. This year, we partnered with an organization called Inspiritus where we served a subsidized housing community. Inspiritus focuses on empowering often neglected people — like immigrants, individuals affected by natural disasters, low-income communities, and refugees. Inspiritus understands that fixing the initial problem is not enough, but exposing the origins can enact real change in a system. Once we arrived at Inspiritus, we received a warm welcome from Mr. Boykin [Inspiritus’ program manager] and listened as he highlighted the severity of gentrification in the Nashville area. He stated that gentrification and new construction in the city caused rent to increase, evicting people from their homes. This forced removal of community natives essentially deprives the community of the very people who built and enhanced the area’s culture for decades. After hearing his speech, the students and faculty sponsors felt even more motivated to help make a positive impact and shed light on civic inequalities. We aimed to build new gardens and turn enough soil to prepare the neighborhood for planting season. Once we arrived — with a rake and a shovel in hand — we got to work. First, we worked in groups of two or three to rake the gardens, remove debris, and eventually even out the soil. After finishing this task, we worked together to take apart old gardens and build new ones that could be used for the next harvest season. By the end of the day, we had cleaned about fifteen gardens and built about four new gardens. Overall, we felt our partnership with Inspiritus was impactful because we helped set the foundation for a healthy lifestyle within the community and equipped community natives with the soil to produce their own food. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Inspiritus as it continues its effort to fix the root of the food accessibility and housing issue in the Nashville area.” – Tre Sheats '24