Community & Service: Working Together to Better the Community

The following article was written by Meghan Arnold, MYP English & Humanities Teacher.

At Riverstone International School, we take pride in prioritizing the daily practice and implementation of our Mission Statement: “Riverstone International School inspires courageous journeys of academic and personal exploration that enable our students to lead purposeful lives.” Under this Mission Statement fall 5 Pillars which guide our actions in meeting the criteria of the Mission Statement. These 5 pillars are Academic Excellence, Community & Service, Leadership by Example, International Understanding, and Outdoor Education. These 5 Pillars serve as the foundation for Riverstone International School. In every class, program, school trip, and Wednesday activity, these 5 Pillars are represented in those moments that make Riverstone the wonderful school it is!

The pillar community and service has played a significant role within our middle school program in the month of November. For the majority of our Wednesday activities in November, our Outdoor Education Coordinator, Derek Wright, has been leading our Grade 6, Grade 7, and Grade 8 students in a community service project! This project is in collaboration with Golden Eagle Audubon Society. This project is called the Boise River ReWild Project and, according to Golden Eagle Audubon’s website, the goal of the project is to restore 50+ acres of natural habitat along the Boise River (Boise River ReWild Project). How does Riverstone International School play a role in this project? Derek Wright states, “This project began around 2-3 years ago when Riverstone began their Wednesday program. I was looking for service opportunities around Boise that would be beneficial for students to partake in on our Wednesday activities, and I reached out to the Golden Eagle Audubon Society! Riverstone International School has since adopted a plot of land outside of the Idaho Department of Parks And Recreation. When we first adopted this plot, it was covered in Rush Skeletonweed which is an invasive species in Idaho. For this community service project, we’ve been bringing Riverstone students and staff to this plot of land to remove this invasive species and then plant native species to Idaho!” 

Being Riverstone’s Outdoor Education Coordinator, Derek is very passionate about educating our students and staff about the importance of conservation in your community. As stated above, this community service project has been in the works for years! Upon hearing this information, I was curious to know what the next steps are for this project. According to Derek, “Our collaborative goal with Golden Eagle Audubon Society is to have this project complete by December 2023 and we are well on our way to making that happen! Once this goal is met, we will continue to visit our plot of land to calculate the survival rates of our native plants and to ensure they are flourishing!”

The Boise River ReWild Project is not the only community service project Derek has been coordinating at Riverstone. Derek also led our recent Rake Up Boise project! Derek states, “We’ve been participating in Rake Up Boise for almost 10 years now! We come together as a school community on the day of Rake Up Boise and assist in raking the lawns of Boise residents who may not be able to complete this service themselves. These reasons could be due to physical limitations, age, etc. This year, we had Riverstone students ranging from Preschoolers to Grade 11 students participating in this community service project!”

These projects serve as prime examples for what you can accomplish through teamwork. At Riverstone International School, the involvement of students and staff in serving our community truly has significant effects on our peers, Boise residents, and local environment. At Riverstone, we all have big dreams and they are made possible when we work together to achieve those dreams.Through our efforts in serving our community as a whole, we hope that Riverstone International School can continue to be a positive example for other communities in Boise who wish to serve others too.