Crossroads News

Sophomores Explore Avenues for Outreach, Community Engagement

Crossroads students visit South LA school, discover opportunities for activism.
Whether at school or in the community, Crossroads students are committed to making a difference. And on two inspiring Community Engagement Days earlier this month, sophomores had the chance to explore numerous opportunities for action and activism.
 
Members of the 10th-grade class traveled in groups to South Park Elementary School in South LA, where they organized and led Olympics-style P.E. activities for students there. In addition to promoting fitness through games and challenges, the sophomores served as role models as they interacted with the younger children over lunch.
 
“Community service is so important because we need to work together as a whole to help others,” sophomore Lila Grayson says.
 
Back on campus, Lila and Izzy Massin led student workshops to support Wise Readers to Leaders, a nonprofit that promotes childhood literacy through enrichment activities for underserved youths in grades K-12.
 
The Crossroads students designed and assembled bags of school supplies for children at Stanley Mosk Elementary School, which is located in the Winnetka area of the San Fernando Valley.
 
“Reaching out to the community has always been something we have found fulfilling and something we love to do,” Izzy says.
 
Crossroads students Sankofa Attaway, Leila Bloomingdale, Georgia Kennedy-Bailey and Sky Morgen spearheaded sessions about A Sense of Home, a nonprofit that supports children who have aged out of the foster system.
 
Students also organized lunchtime information tables to support Friendship Circle, which benefits individuals with special needs, and to combat gun violence.
 
This year, the Community Engagement Days included student Q&A sessions with Derric Johnson, the founding director of the Crossroads School Equity & Justice Institute; and Cherokee Washington ’13, the K-12 diversity coordinator.
Back