Everything Under The Sun: Harbour School's First

Celebrating student leadership success.

THE HARBOUR SCHOOL, which is a nonpublic school for students age 6 to 21, is located in Owings Mills. The school serves youth who have learning disabilities, emotional problems, some types of autism spectrum disorders, and multiple disabilities.

These young people have an accomplishment that no other group has matched. They became the first school to win the LEAD2FEED WORLD HUNGER LEADERSHIP PROGRAM challenge, not just once, but twice, two years in a row. This program promotes leadership among students, while also addressing the issue of world hunger through service learning projects.

High school English teacher Siri Llamas has been helping the school team, Harbouring Hope For Hunger, with the various activities that the group has organized. The entire school followed through with healthier eating by everyone chomping down on an apple, at the same time that students at other schools around Maryland did the same, in order to promote the concept of every Maryland child being able to eat a healthy breakfast.

Then there were all of the activities for Hunger Awareness Week. They invited speakers from Maryland Food Bank, Bea Gaddy Center, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, and Maryland Hunger Solutions. In partnership with Golden Ring Middle School, students collected more than 200 pounds of food and delivered all of it to the Maryland Food Bank.

This year students wanted to do something that would contribute to hunger solutions in different parts of the world. Together, they wrote a booklet, What Can I Do?, which contains various resources and suggestions, which they distributed to various schools around the world. With student research, the booklets were filled with resources and data that are specific to the areas in which the schools are located. Their big project involved designing a board game and comic strip specifically for elementary and middle school students. They even used a 3d printer to make the game's playing pieces.

The schools that received these special items are located in Denmark, France, Israel, Norway, and Japan. One of the biggest surprises for students was when they received a letter from the Prime Minister of Denmark thanking them for their involvement in this project.

As the winners of the challenge, the students of The Harbour School received $25,000 in each year that they won. Since the mother of their teacher, Ms. Llamas, has benefited from the services of Meals On Wheels, the students were more than happy to donate their winnings, both times, to MEALS ON WHEELS OF CENTRAL MARYLAND.

Members of The Harbour School family with the $25,000 check.

So, with two wins under their belt, are the students at The Harbour School willing to rest on their laurels? No, indeed! Students are busily at work planning just what activities will take place this year to increase awareness of the need to end world hunger.