On May 13th, 660 Monroe High School students and 69 staff members emerged into the Monroe Community to embark on the annual tradition of giving back to the community.

The morning of Day of Service has a tradition of being kicked off with an opening rally focused on the importance of giving back to our community and the impact each student can have in doing so. This message was once again delivered by MHS Alumni and President of Colony Brands Foundation, John Bauman. John’s powerful and impactful message was a great way to start the day.

Students were then engaged in a variety of service activities throughout the community for the rest of the morning. Each site has unique needs, and we work to meet those needs by sending them a crew of students. Some jobs required pulling weeds, spreading mulch, planting trees, planting flowers, or moving rocks. Yet other jobs included painting, cleaning, organizing, and moving materials. Students and staff even picked up garbage along the highway, the west side of Monroe, and the Badger Trail. Some students walked to and from the job sites while others were bussed to the sites thanks to the generosity of Lamer’s Transportation Services. 

On the job sites, students were met by site coordinators and supervised by MHS staff. For many staff, this is one of the best experiences of the year. The opportunity to work alongside students and get dirty is fun, invigorating, and builds bonds that cannot be made in any classroom. The experience gives MHS staff the opportunity to show students that they have skills beyond the classroom and are not afraid to roll up their sleeves for our community.

History of Day of Service

This annual tradition called Day of Service returned to Monroe High School this year after a two year hiatus due to Covid. Day of Service (DOS) was originally established in 2013 when Rick Waski came to Monroe as the new Principal of MHS. Since then, each administrator has embraced the annual event, and it has become a welcomed annual event favored by the community, staff, and students.

Special T-Shirts This Year 

Each year, students wear their annual DOS t-shirt sponsored by Colony Brands, but this year’s shirt is particularly symbolic. MHS Student Christian Carpenter designed a shirt that connects all aspects of DOS by highlighting the signature MHS Arch and the Courthouse Clocktower in the palms of set hands. The organizers of this year’s event choose the shirts to be green. When we think of spring, we think of growth and of plants in dormancy exploding back to life. The first color we often see in spring is green. This year’s Day of Service is like buds on a tree exploding back to life after a two-year dormancy. It was exciting to see how the event came to life and how contagious the excitement was amongst students and staff to go out and work in our community.

Thanks to Everyone

A big thank you to everyone involved in this year’s MHS Day of Service from our community partners to MSD administration, MHS staff, and MHS students. This year MHS students and staff gave back over 2,160 hours worth of community service to the Monroe Community. If you have a group in Monroe that you would like to participate in the MHS Day of Service in the future, please contact Tim Brown or Eric Jubeck at Monroe High School.

— Timothy Brown is a special educator with the School District of Monroe and the MHS Day of Service Coordinator.