Erie’s Public Schools and the Jefferson Educational Society are proud to announce, “Royal Impact: Building Excellence Together (B.E.T.) Day of Service,” a day of community service led by Erie’s Public Schools high school students.
The inaugural event, to be held Saturday, September 13, from 10 a.m. until noon at Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary School, 235 E. 11th St., is designed to complement the kickoff of the Jefferson Educational Society’s 2025 Global Summit and its marquee event, “A Conversation with President Barack Obama,” on Tuesday, Sept. 16, and to honor President Obama’s service as a community organizer and as a lifelong servant-leader.
The Day of Service will center on helping some of those in greatest need in Erie: 150-200 residents facing housing insecurity. Fifty EPS students representing Erie High School, Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy and the Patrick J. DiPaolo Student Success Center at Emerson Gridley will join community partners in providing a catered meal, distributing hygiene bags, facilitating grooming stations and offering a “reflection and gratitude station,” at which students and guests can share words of encouragement, reflection cards and notes to self or others. Students will also have the opportunity to attend the JES event on September 16.
“‘Community’ isn’t just a tagline or buzz word for Erie’s Public Schools,” Superintendent/CEO Dr. Natalyn Gibbs, Ed.D. “We must be active participants in shaping the kind of community that allows us all to live, learn, grow and thrive – especially our most vulnerable. Our staff and student leaders do that every day by volunteering and working for local businesses, through Career and Technical Education projects that bring their workshops directly into the community, and through service organizations that benefit numerous nonprofit organizations.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Jefferson Educational Society to give our students the opportunity to develop their leadership skills through this event and, most importantly, to give back to our community in a meaningful way.”
“The work that the JES does to bring world-class experts, thinkers, doers, and innovators to Erie, Pennsylvania, with our think tank’s hallmark series, the Global Summit, has always been about more than hosting events,” said Dr. Ferki Ferati, JES President. “It is, of course, about gathering shoulder-to-shoulder to learn from these renowned and influential presenters, but it is importantly a way to inspire action in our community. That is why we are so incredibly grateful to partner with Erie’s Public Schools to create an opportunity see both service and leadership in action with today’s youth who’ll become tomorrow’s leaders committing to a day of service with impact that we, no doubt, believe will have lasting impact.”
