Community Service

GW Community School believes that students can make a difference by getting involved in the world around them. Helping the community also helps our students---it develops leadership qualities, shapes social awareness, and generates civic responsibility. Students volunteer in local, national, and international activities. The school organizes service projects in many areas of interest throughout the year, and it participates in the following volunteer projects on an ongoing basis:

Ronald McDonald House

Each week, a GW teacher and a group of students help the Northern Virginia Ronald McDonald House create a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children admitted at the Fairfax INOVA Hospital . Students cook dinner for families who live too far away from the hospital to return home each night.

   

Kait and Andie preparing a meal at Ronald McDonald House

Invasive Plant Removal

English ivy is slowly killing other plant life in natural areas, including Fairfax County parks. Volunteering for the Fairfax County Park Authority, GW students are helping to reverse the damage in Annandale 's King's Park and Wilburdale Park by pulling ivy off trees and uprooting it from ground areas. This is the ultimate hands-on project. These students' efforts to preserve the health of the park demonstrate a commitment to environmental responsibility.

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Earth Sangha

Earth Sangha is a Buddhist environmental nonprofit organization committed to practical environmental action that is informed with the Buddhist principles of nonviolence, tolerance, self-awareness, and compassion for other living things.  "Sangha" is the Buddhist term for community. GW partnered with Earth Sangha in the winter of 2005 and have been tangling with Wilburdale's jungle of invasive alien plants ever since.  Wilburdale Park, Annandale VA (Map)

Entrance Directions: On Backlick Road, pass the usual entrance on Wilburdale Lane and go to the next street (north) called Byrnelly Road.  It's an obscure street name and obscure street.  Turn left on Byrnelly Road..  The site is at the end of the street.  Park at the end of the street.

Adopt a Park Information | Earth Sangha Information | Article about GW in Aug 2006 Earth Sangha Newsletter

   

Patrick, Andy, Jack and Alex attack the english ivy!  |  Mr. Andrews strangles the english ivy with his bare hands.

Toys for Tots

Giving a message of hope”to needy children is the primary goal of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. GW students join in bringing this message of hope to local children at Christmas by collecting toys for the program each year. They participate both by collecting toys from the GW community and by donating money to buy toys.

Cystic Fibrosis Walk-A-Thon

Rain or shine - the GW community, including teachers, students, parents, siblings and friends, participate in the annual Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis walk-a-thon to raise money for CF research and care.  Some years we join in on the big walk in Washington D.C., other years we sponsor our own walk in Springfield, VA.

 

The Cystic Fibrosis Walk-a-Thon in Washington DC

Coastal Cleanup

At Lake Accotink Park in 2006, students helped to fill seventy-five 50-gallon bags with trash and debris they pulled from the wetlands. GW students return to the site every year to clean up debris caused by storm runoff, littering, and illegal dumping. In doing so, students see firsthand the how people's activities affect natural area wetlands and the unique watershed environment in which we live.

   

GW assists with coastal clean-up at Lake Accotink Park

Friends of Accotink Creek

GW enjoys working with Friends of Accotink Creek to improve the health of this vital piece of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.   Friends of Accotink Creek is a volunteer organization restoring Accotink Creek to enhance enjoyment of biking, fishing, jogging, walking and bird watching along a major portion of the Cross County Trail. GW creek cleanups are scheduled regularly. Click Here to see more on GW's recent clean-up project.