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Shady Side Academy Students Spend MLK Jr. Day Helping Others

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Millions of Americans spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day serving others, including some Pittsburgh-area school kids.

Students from Shady Side Academy used their time Monday to help others.

"We're gonna color these candy wrappers, fold them and then tape them onto these Hershey's bars, and send them to the troops," student Bo Huang said.

The students joined their parents – 150 volunteers in all. At one station, they worked together to fold blankets for "Meals On Wheels."

"By starting the kids young in ways that's really accessible and understandable for them, like putting together birthday goody bags, it really instills in them just the basic value of taking a little time out of your life to think about helping others and giving back to the community," Jen Roupe said.

Those goody bags are going to other kids who are less fortunate.

"It means that other people are, like, getting happier that don't have homes," student Jack DeChancie said.

Putting the lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into practice…

"He treated everybody nicely, so we're treating everybody nicely, too," student Alex Chasin said.

The work doesn't stop here.

The lesson plan for these students was learning that helping those in need can also be fun.

 

Meanwhile, at the Carnegie Science Center, kids got some help achieving their dreams. The "Dream Big 3D" event was held at the new Rangos Cinema Theater.

The Science Center says Dr. King had a dream, and it was hoping to encourage the kids to find their own dream and write it down on a giant banner.

"People can share that out on social media. People can take a look and see what other people's dreams are," science educator Maila Jill Rible said. "It's just a fun, nice way to really sort of celebrate the spirit of the day."

The kids also watched a movie about engineering feats, including one about building a bridge that allowed them to go from one area to another.

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