Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hosted its sixth annual Day of Service and Love on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Students who chose to attend school that day attended  a non-academic day from 7:40-11 a.m. and were able to participate in a number of service activities to benefit the community and campus.

Students were required to fill out a form at the beginning of January, determining whether or not they would attend school on Feb. 14, and what service activity they would be participating in for the day. The students received confirmation the week prior as well as numerous phone calls to make sure that they knew the appropriate attire and what to bring for each of the service projects they signed up for.

These activities included working in the garden, working on cleaning up campus, making breakfast for first responders, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to donate to food banks, crafting no-sew tote bags out of old T-shirts, sewing blankets for homeless shelters, creating spoken-word poetry, participating in yoga and doing body mindfulness.

Students were directed to a table where teachers signed them in and gave them a wristband, which would determine what activity they would be participating in that day–green wristbands for the garden, purple wristbands for sandwich making and others. Students spent time and worked at their activity until 9:30 a.m., when they would begin to clean up and head to the memorial for a service at 10 a.m.

At the service, a moment of silence was held at MSD’s on-campus memorial for the 17 lives lost in the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting. Assistant Principal Jay Milmed and Principal Michelle Kefford spoke, and afterwards, teachers and family members of the 17 placed flowers to commemorate their loved ones.

Students were able to access support systems throughout the entire day. Therapy dogs also came on campus during the day, greeting the students in the courtyard and first responders as they came from the cafeteria after being served breakfast by students.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Andres Fuenmayor

In Memoriam. Principal Michelle Kefford gives a speech in front of the on-campus memorial in honor of the 17 lives lost on Feb. 14, 2018. During the speech, Kefford thanked all of the students, staff and family members of the victims for being present and dedicating their time to volunteering in their community.

Many students have found that the Day of Service and Love has provided them with an outlet to give back to the community.

“It felt really good to be able to help out my community and get to do this activity with my friends,” sophomore Alex Freedman said. “Everyone’s really active in participating in all the activities. I think it gives people a purpose higher than them, and it’s a really cool thing.”

The garden has had a particularly large attendance over the last few years; this year about 70 students and 14 teachers attended. Constructed in 2018, Marjory’s Garden is a place where students come throughout the year to have lunch and relax; some teachers even host classes outside in the classroom area. Every Sunday, students in the Marjory’s Garden club work to complete new projects to beautify and expand the garden.

“The day of service is a way to bring students and community together, especially in the garden,” Garden Club President Riley Walsh said. “Working with my peers to build and plant is a great way to spread kindness, and has even been therapeutic for me and many others.”

Prior to this year, the activities offered have been working in the garden, serving breakfast to first responders, mindfulness and campus beautification, which have supported the roughly 300 students that generally attend year to year. This year, however, 436 students signed up to go to school on Feb. 14, so more projects were needed to support a greater number of students.

To determine new projects for this year’s Day of Service, MSD’s Inter-club Council met on Nov. 14, 2023 and discussed ideas. The ICC tasked each club with submitting one idea for a service project back to the council and those activities would be hosted by the clubs on the day of service.

“The goal is to try and get the clubs to have more input on the projects, and to have them assist in facilitating those projects,” ICC adviser Danielle Driscoll said. “Because, as the years have gone on, the number of students that come to school that day has increased exponentially—which is a great thing, and we encourage that so that students can participate in service projects that day, but the need is growing.”

The new projects offered this year included making friendship bracelets and sewing blankets with the Maker-Space Club, making PB&J sandwiches to donate to local food banks with DECA and making no-sew tote bags out of old T-shirts.

For the past six years, through the Day of Service and Love, the school community has come together with the Parkland and Coral Springs communities to build resilience, as well as grow and heal.

This story was originally published in the March 2023 Eagle Eye print edition.