Millbrook held their annual day of service on October 3, 2024. In honor of the former principal of Millbrook High School, the day has coined the term The Dana King Day of Service.
Dana King served 42 years of service as an educator and administrator. The last 19 of those 42 years were spent as the principal of Millbrook High School. Showing her commitment to everything Wildcat, King was a large part of what makes Millbrook the school it is today. King and her memory is what drives this event, with the main focus being to build up the school in the way that she would have wanted.
Organizer of the event, Millbrook horticulture teacher Ms. Nidiffer said, “I had the privilege to have Mrs. King as my principal when I was a student at Millbrook. She worked tirelessly to improve campus and connect with the Millbrook community. I am honored to lead this project [to] remember Mrs. King.”
To kick off the event, Principal Dr. Saunders gave a speech dedicating the day to King and asked the seniors to join in on the remembrance, as they are the last graduating class that has had King as a principal. With this sweet tribute that shows how much Saunders admired the work King did, the event began, and the volunteers were off.
Split into three groups: staff, students and community members all divided the work and projects. While the event had many small goals around campus, one of the main objectives was to create a better learning environment for the staff and students at Millbrook. This was done with new bushes, trees and plants being planted around the campus.
Sophomore Natalie Waller said, “I participated in the day of service because it is important to me to give back to my community and stay in touch with what’s going on around me.”
One of the projects was focused around the 200 building and the courtyard. Each group was given a tasklist to complete, and for this group it began with pulling weeds. Surrounding one side of the building sits mulch where old flower beds used to be. After these were removed, the ground revealed clovers, weeds and other small plants that all needed to be removed.
The next step for this team was to level the bushes and trees that would be planted, so they would all line up even to the wall as well as each other. After checking the spots were correct, the volunteers in this group began to dig.
Nidiffer gave a mini lesson on how to plant the trees and bushes. For bushes it is simple, the hole that needs to be dug must be the circumference of the planter, and deep enough to have the top sit directly in line with the top of the planter the bush arrived in. For trees it is a little more difficult due to the size that has to be factored in for when the tree grows. These holes had to be double the radius of the planter for both the length and the width. Similar to the bush, the tree’s hole had to be just deep enough for the planter’s top to sit in line with the top of the soil.
With shovels and teamwork, this group completed the digging and planting of the new greenery. Even though the group had to dig through hard clay, a tarp and rocks, the plants were all successfully in the planned out places. With the final step being to water, the group of 15 volunteers all worked back and forth to water each of the newly planted trees and bushes.
While the three hours were spent planting and digging for this group, other groups were focusing on landscaping in other areas or general maintenance in various places. From taking the scraps of cut down trees into a pile, to removing the tarp covering a big tree at the front of the school, activities were occurring all around campus.
Nidiffer said, “My main goal was for student[s] to collaborate together and work towards making the school a better place to work and learn. The point was not just to get service hours and do busy work but contribute and foster a sense of pride within MHS.”
Many students worked the DK day of service because they felt it was important for themselves and also for the community that they would be helping. Sophomore Avery Herrera said, “It’s important for students to get involved because it allows you to give back to Millbrook after all the opportunities given, as well as honor Mrs. King and her memory.”
While this event was mainly worked by the students of Millbrook, staff and community members also came together to help beautify the school. Nidiffer said, “The teachers who were able to participate on Thursday made an impact on the lives of students outside of their PowerSchool roster. Teachers and students work together to improve the school they have a privilege to be a part of. I am so grateful to have the support of the MHS faculty for this event.”
From the range of tasks, to the range of reasons volunteers came out to help, the Dana King Day of Service was a huge success for the school and surrounding community of Millbrook.
