May 8, 2025
from Jay Dean, assistant Upper School director and Panther Post guest contributor
Mark Your Calendars
- Wednesday, May 14: US Constitutional Law Oral Arguments, 6-8 PM, PCR, Recital Hall, and Martin Lenz Harrison Library
- Thursday, May 15: MS/US Band Concert, 7-8:30 PM, Nicholson Center
- Friday, May 16: US Class of 2025 Last Day of Classes
- Friday, May 16: US Senior Sunset, 7:30-9:30 PM, South Lawn
- Monday, May 19: Senior GCD Presentations, 3:15-5 PM, Martin Lenz Harrison Library
- Wednesday, May 21: US Vocal Concert, 7:30-9 PM, Nicholson Center
- Friday, May 23: US Senior Class Meeting, 8:30-10 AM, Recital Hall
- Friday, May 23: US Senior Performances, 10-11 AM, Recital Hall
- Friday, May 23: Lunch Alumni Panel with Class of 2025, 11 AM-12:30 PM, Recital Hall
- Friday, May 23: LS/US Band/Orchestra G4 Concert, 11:30 AM-12:10 PM, Panther Center
- Friday, May 23: US Senior Walk, 1-1:45 PM, MPA Campus
- Friday, May 23: US Awards Ceremony, 1:45-3 PM, Nicholson Center
- Monday, May 26: No Classes, Memorial Day
- Tuesday, May 27: Senior Service-Con, 1-4 PM, McKeown Track
- Wednesday, May 28: Madrigal Singer Auditions, 3-6 PM, Choir Room and Recital Hall
- Wednesday, May 28: US Class of 2025 Dinner, 6-8 PM, Dellwood Country Club
- Thursday, May 29: US World Language Finals
“3,600 hours…and counting!”
One of the MPA graduation requirements is for students to complete 60 hours of community service over four years, including a 30-hour Senior Service Project. While in Upper School, all students engage in service in our surrounding Twin Cities’ communities, in other places across the country, abroad, and even right here on campus. Through service, our students live our key core values as “involved and engaged” citizens through the experiential learning opportunities that community service provides.
In my three years here, most students easily reach the requisite number of service hours, and many go well beyond it during their time at MPA. For example, the Class of 2025, collectively, has amassed a total of more than 3,600 hours (and counting)!
Each May, we host “Senior Service-Con” (the name inspired by the popular ComicCon), an event for members of the MPA and the surrounding community, in which seniors present their senior service projects. The Class of 2024 developed a mission statement for this event, which we have continued to use: “MPA’s Senior Service-Con creates a culture of service and communicates MPA’s values of volunteerism and community involvement. Meant to serve both MPA and external communities, Service-Con is an opportunity for seniors to demonstrate the importance of service.” What strikes me each year is the variety of projects, and this year’s crop is no different.
Among the more than fifty projects that will be on display are the following: “Forest Health and Biodiversity Survey”; “Fostering a Love of Skiing in the MPA Community and Beyond”; “Defending Democracy in Minnesota”; “Gichitwaa Kateri Language Preservation”; and “Expanding Volleyball Access for BTC Students.” In my experience, the best part of the event is when I have the chance to eavesdrop on conversations between students and attendees, to hear our students talk about the meaningful relationships and self-discoveries they made throughout their experiences.
Finally, perhaps the most powerful aspect of the senior service project experience is the opportunity for students to think more deeply about their projects. Each student is asked to write a two-page reflection that includes a “description of the impact of this project on the community,” and a “reflection of what you learned about yourself in the process of serving.” This year, a student who spent time volunteering in MPA Lower School classrooms wrote, “It is easy to get caught up in the stressful and fast-paced environment of Upper School. Often, when I would return to my classes after volunteering, I would find myself talking more calmly and listening more to my peers as they spoke.” Another, who volunteered with the Ramsey County Watershed District, shared, “Going into my project, even just organizing the first meeting, required an amount of self-advocacy with which I was initially uncomfortable. Any project I had participated in before had always been planned by an adult, which made coordinating one by myself a stressful, but beneficial, learning experience.”
Please mark your calendars for the 2025 Senior Service-Con. It will be held on the McKeown Track on Tuesday, May 27, from 1-4 PM. In addition to our students’ projects, there will be information about other service organizations in our community, a bake sale to raise money for organizations featured at the event, and an opportunity to donate to several food and clothing drives.
Please spread the word, and we hope to see you there!
Important Information
- If your student will be absent, late, or needs to be excused early from school, please reach out to the Upper School office via cwilliams@moundsparkacademy.org.
