At Seacoast Academy 'Being in the Middle' is an Asset
June 1, 2008

(Hampton Falls, NH)   -  When surveying local community service initiatives with origins in the schools, middle schools are often overlooked in educational and social dialogues, according to one educator. 
Christina Breen, the Director of Secondary School Placement  at the newly-created Seacoast Academy,  says her school has woven community service into its Life Skills curriculum, and has gone further to engage two other local schools in a similar, collaborative effort. 
  	In addition to visits to elderly homes, joining the Martin Luther King Day community march in Portsmouth, helping the Blue Ocean Society with beach clean-up at Hampton Beach, planting 250 new trees at Tonry Farm in Hampton Falls,  Seacoast Academy launched two additional, on-going community service programs:  Acorn School Book Buddies program and the Phillips Exeter Academy Mentor program. 
With the Acorn School Book Buddies program, Seacoast Academy students traveled throughout the school year to Acorn twice a month.  The students were assigned a "book buddy" hence the name Acorn School Book Buddies to read their favorite stories and do an art project together.  The Acorn School is a pre-school located in Stratham in the Seacoast area serving 3, 4, and 5 year olds.  
The SA students also hosted the Acorn students at their school, as part of a two-day program in which the 7th grade science students instructed the kindergartners in science, explaining the food webs in connection to Earth Day activities.  Acorn students were also the first to see the student performance of "The Music Man" put on at Seacoast Academy this winter.  The Seacoast students were rewarded by the adoration they received from their younger friends, knowing that the consistent time they spent with them was productive, and making the connection as role models in service. 
Operating as a simultaneous program was the Phillips Exeter Academy Mentor program, part of the Academy's Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO).  Each Wednesday this year, students ages 15 -18, from Exeter came to Seacoast Academy, serving as mentors in the Seacoast classroom.  This was  an incredible exposure for the SA students to see motivated students just a little bit older giving back to them.  Phillips Exeter Academy, five miles down the road from Seacoast Academy, is a school serving grades 9 through 12.  Students come from all over the country and parts of the world to attend Phillips Exeter and most of the mentors who serve at Seacoast Academy were not from New England.  With their guidance in the classroom, these high school students were able to model not only academic passion, but a commitment to community service.  
  These two initiatives were established in an effort to "live" the school's core values and focus on service learning, to promote volunteerism and allow students, according to Breen, "to both give with generosity and receive with grace."  Acorn School Book Buddies program and the Phillips Exeter Academy Mentor have enriched the lives of students ranging in age from 5 to 18. 
Breen, along with the other founders and trustees of the school, says the middle school years are a fertile time in the development of mind and character - and according to Seacoast Academy's foundations is "a time to promote intellectual growth, spiritual discovery, stewardship of the earth, character education, and social justice".  Rather than eschewing school as a place to reinforce those lessons, Breen thinks middle school is the perfect place for those lessons, which often begin with our parents, to take root. 
The Seacoast Academy student is indeed in the "middle" of these exchange programs.  They are seeing first hand how much they can offer and how much they can learn from others.   The experience was extremely positive and will be continued next year.  "Giving back and receiving in this way has no doubt contributed to character development of the whole person at Seacoast Academy" according to Head of School, Scott Votey.
Centrally located in the Seacoast region in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, Seacoast Academy has access to a beautiful horse farm with trails and open fields.  It's first year of operation ended in June with 33 students.  There are currently 52 enrolled for the 2008-09 school year.  Applications are still being accepted for grades 6, 7, and 8.