Upper School students spent the day in various locations around Tampa Bay, giving back and serving the community for the annual Terrapin Day. This year, the long-standing tradition of Terrapin Day happened to fall on Valentine’s Day.
Terrapin Day looked different for each student; some worked with local food banks and learned about food insecurity, some cleaned local parks and beaches, and others found ways to serve right from Tampa Prep.
“The idea of service can feel intimidating because you might not know how to get involved, but doing it in a full class setting helps it feel a little less intimidating, and it can give you some ideas about how to serve the community beyond high school,” said Margaret Carraway, who played a large role in planning Terrapin Day.
She described Terrapin Day as a day of service where students have the opportunity to serve in different ways and get more plugged into the community. Tampa Prep already had preexisting relationships with many of the organizations that students volunteered with, especially through Key Club.
Each grade had a separate agenda throughout the day with a broader goal in mind. Ninth grade students’ days were centered around food insecurity, volunteering with Feeding Tampa Bay and Metropolitan Ministries.
Tenth grade students participated in an outdoor activity aimed at preparing them for their Pisgah trip before Junior year. They volunteered with Keeping Tampa Bay Beautiful to clean up litter at the Courtney Campbell Causeway.
“We cleaned the side of the road at the beach. Half of us went to the side with water and half of us went to the docks, and we picked up trash,” said Leela Prakash.
Eleventh grade students had the opportunity to work with a variety of organizations, including the Children’s Cancer Center, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, Keeping Tampa Bay Beautiful, and Trinity Cafe, a branch of Feeding Tampa Bay.
“My advising group went to Trinity Cafe, and I served food to the homeless. It helped me appreciate what I have in my life and how lucky I am to always know that I’m getting food,” said Madeleine Mishkin.
Seniors stayed behind on campus, helping out Tampa Prep service clubs whose needs differed from other organizations. They spent the day making dog toys and cat beds for the Humane Society, writing letters to children in cancer centers, making cards for the elderly at Brookdale Bayshore, knitting mats for the homeless, and organizing menstrual products for women in need.
“We got grouped by advising and we went around stations. We learned how important volunteering is and how important it is to give back to the community,” said Mia Carelli.
Service helps develop a sense of community among students, and makes them more aware of the issues affecting the lives of those around them. Through Terrapin Day, students can see the direct impacts of their actions.
“One of our values in our school’s mission is to ‘Go Beyond’, and this is a way to go beyond by helping our larger community,” said Carraway.
