Nearly 350 Da Vinci Students Volunteered in Wiseburn Last Month

Building community is sometimes about more than just showing up. It’s about showing team spirit, it’s about bringing your heart and your smile, it’s about bringing your presence, your gifts, and your kindness to every interaction and every event. And Da Vinci students did that in spades this month.

Nearly 350 Da Vinci students and staff volunteered within the Wiseburn community over the past month, sharing their gifts, their time, their spirit, their smiles, and their hearts with the community. Da Vinci students volunteered for tasks big and small, creating lasting memories for younger students and their families across the district. 

From Spooktacular at Wiseburn Middle School which had over 250 Da Vinci student volunteers, to a face painting event celebrating Dia de los Muertos at Hollyglen Elementary School, our Da Vinci students showed up and made a big impact in our community. We are so grateful and proud of how powerfully and professionally our students represented our schools and our core values.

At Spooktacular, Da Vinci students and staff helped out in every aspect of the event, including the planning, game stations, prize booths, food counters, candy booths, the maze, event setup and cleanup, facilities, and security.

Thanks to the PTSA who ran the event, the community’s support, and the nearly 300 Da Vinci students and staff who volunteered, the PTSA at Wiseburn Middle School was able to raise about $17,000 in additional funding that will be used to support the middle school students and robust learning experiences. 

“One of the best things about Spooktacular is how the community comes together to make a fun, festive night,” said Hadley Porter, president of the Wiseburn Middle School PTSA. “Spooktacular is a volunteer-run event, and we couldn’t have done it without Da Vinci Schools’ partnership and support — from the office staff helping us plan, to the students and staff who gave us their time and energy at the event, and to the Da Vinci Schools Fund that paid for Earle’s on Crenshaw hot dogs. Da Vinci Schools has been a longtime supporter of Spooktacular, and this year the support was more than ever. The Wiseburn Middle School PTSA is so grateful for all the help Da Vinci Schools and Da Vinci students provided,” she added. 

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For Hollyglen Elementary School, Da Vinci Design students and staff turned the opportunity to volunteer into more than just the dedication of time, they turned it into a thoughtful, complete, project-based learning experience. The request from the Hollyglen Elementary School’s PTA was simple: Can your Design students participate in our Dia de los Muertos event by creating face painting designs for the littles and then painting the designs on the kiddos’ faces?

Da Vinci Design students and the administration felt up to the task. And so the work began.

Da Vinci Design students spent weeks hand drawing the designs that they wanted to paint on the faces of the TK-2nd grade kids at Hollyglen’s Dia de los Muertos event. Design students worked as a team to conceptualize the designs, drew them by hand, got them approved by the PTA, decided what products they needed to buy in order to paint the designs, scaled the designs, practiced painting the designs on each other, and then showed up at the event to paint the faces of hundreds of young kids in our community. 

The outpouring of support from these Design student volunteers and the outpouring of joy for these student volunteers was tremendous. Not only did we have more volunteers sign up for the event than the PTA requested, we also had additional students who signed up to read books about Dia de los Muertos to the younger kids, and to help them with their crafts. 

“We were so excited and grateful to have all the students who came out and volunteered at Hollyglen Elementary School for our Dia De Los Muertos and Movie Night evening,” said Jill Striff, president of Hollyglen Elementary School’s PTA. “The children loved getting their faces painted with the fun, creative designs and it was a true highlight of our event. The storytellers in our auditorium brought memorable traditions and culture to life with the stories and books. We are so grateful for all the community support and look forward to having Da Vinci students back out on our campus,” she continued.

The Dia de los Muertos event was truly an event in which our high school students successfully used their project-based learning skills to create a memorable experience for the community’s kids. In doing so, they were able to put their own creativity and gifts to use and in service to creating an experience that brought joy to others and support to the PTA and the community. 

“We are very grateful for the support Da Vinci students are giving to our schools and the younger students our district serves,” said Dr. Blake Silvers, superintendent of Wiseburn USD. “PTAs play such a critical role in every school and without their support, so many extracurricular opportunities and events would not be possible. We are grateful to our partners at Da Vinci Schools, our schools’ PTAs, and all those who support our community’s students, schools, and families,” he continued.

Curious about how our students felt about volunteering? Here are some thoughts they shared when asked: 

“It felt good to know that the whole school was there supporting each other and to have my friends around me while volunteering.” 

“It was a lot of fun seeing the kids smile and have fun.”

“I like helping kids so yes, I enjoyed it.” 

“It was fun, and it was cool to oversee kids go to the thing that I used to go to when I was younger with my family and friends.” 

“I felt like I was making a lot of kids happy by playing with them. Especially when they won the game.” 

“Yes, I like that I got to be a part of something that I have been going to since I was 5 years old.” 

“I really liked being able to paint the kids’ faces. It’s something I’ve done before and would totally do again.” 

Thank you to all our Da Vinci students for signing up and showing up to support our schools and the Wiseburn community. We could not be more grateful nor more proud of you. 

Thank you to the PTAs who partnered with us and allowed us to be a part of creating these moments of magic for the community. 

Thank you to our Da Vinci students who have signed up to volunteer at future PTA events in the community. We look forward to continuing to foster a culture of supporting one another and the community — now and for generations to come.