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[Five Reasons to Work at YES Prep] Reason Four: Giving Back

November 11, 2011 by Thomas Knecht

YES Prep is praised for being one of the country’s leading charter school systems. The amount of effort our teachers, administration, parents, and students put into each academic year is extraordinary and can easily stand alone as THE reason to be involved with YES Prep. There is, however, much more to the YES Prep mission. One of our Thinks & Acts (A series of "mottos" that YES Prep students and staff commit to live by.) is to “Leave a place better than we found it.” This simple phrase transcends instruction and aids in building lasting character in our students. The most obvious way to see YES Prep students leave a place better than they found it is through our community service.

Once every 6 weeks, we take each and every student on a service learning trip. There are three parts to this trip; 1) A lesson regarding the impact and relevance of the particular service activity, 2) the act of service with an organization in our community, and 3) reflection upon the events of the day and the individual’s impact in the community. We have partnered with several organizations including Herman Park, Memorial Park, the Katy Prairie Foundation, the Houston Food Bank, Feed the Children, Bering Omega, the HEART Program, Urban Harvest, and Star of Hope. We act as mentors, artists, gardeners, and ambassadors for our school.

We strongly believe that the act of service is just the tip of the ice burg and the most important aspect of service is the reflection. What does it mean to “Leave a place better than you found it?” What is our place in society? Who will help the needy if we choose not to? These are just a few of the questions we pose to our students as they think about their impact in the community. Students write journals, send letters, and engage in intense conversations to find the value in the service they provide. It is with a humble hand that we offer aid to our community, asking nothing in return except the value of the experience.

Youth Engaged in Service. We are YES Prep! Together we contribute thousands of hours of service a year to the community. Once we reach our goal of 10,000 students enrolled across 13 different campuses, we will contribute a collective 500,000 or more service hours to the Houston community during a single academic year. Together we can move mountains. We put the ‘S’ in YES!

Thomas Knecht teaches Music Theory at the middle and high school levels, and is the Service Learning Coordinator at YES Prep East End.