Every week during long block periods, Courtney Neese’s ’00 English 4 AP classes travel to Manatawny Manor, a retirement home just a short five minute drive from The Hill School.

Each student is paired with a Manatawny Manor resident and spends about 45 minutes with them coloring, doing puzzles, or simply talking. The residents are between 80 to 90 years old.

This is Neese’s third year using service learning for her AP classes. The students had their first visit to Manatawny Manor this year on Thursday, November 30.

“Service learning in general is really important,” Crystal Brown ’18 said. “It creates a bridge between the outside world and what we learn in school.” 

The students this year have expressed excitement about the program as many believe their first trip to Manatawny Manor went well.

“It’s important because it teaches us perspective,” Drew Sottosanti ‘18 said. “We will all be there one day, and it helps us understand what life is in its truest form.”

Neese originally came up with the idea during the summer of 2014.

“I kept coming back to one question again and again, ‘Why should our learning be restricted by the four walls of our classroom?’” Neese said. “The further digging I did into service learning, the more I began to realize that we could use the entire community as our classroom.”

Neese believes that in addition to the deep impact the students experience from the relationships they form with their partners, the course also forces her students to reflect deeply on a personal level. As the students hear stories of love, stories of war, and stories of loss, they think about their own lives, their families, and their futures.

“The students and their partners cry together and laugh together; they exchange personal stories, share life advice, and sit in thoughtful silence together; they hold hands and emotionally embrace each other,” Neese said.

After just one visit, many students have already formed a close bond with their resident.

“I think that going there and just having a conversation with [the residents] is so important because it shows them that someone still cares about them,” Kitty Fritz ’18 said.

Hearing these residents’ stories and experiences is an excellent way for a 17-19 year-old student to truly understand and appreciate the world around them. This teaches students compassion, empathy and kindness, something that might not be taught in a classroom.

“The deepest learning happens when students are able to connect their classroom learning with the real world, so that’s what we set out to do” Neese said.