Tag Archives: Service

Hamlin Makes Face Shields For Local Health Personnel

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Hamlin has connected with other Bay Area Makers to 3D print PPE (protective personal equipment) Face Shield visors for our local health personnel working on the frontlines fighting COVID-19. They need as many shields as possible and we have risen to the challenge! One Hamlin parent, (Alex Belenson P ’23) even started a gofundme campaign and raised enough funds to purchase additional 3D printers to ramp up production and enough PLA filament to print the visors 24/7 for months to come. We are currently able to produce 9 visors a day.

Amanda Sammann, a trauma surgeon at UCSF/SF General and Director of the Better Lab, has approved the PPE Face Shield known as the Budmen design and is accepting them.

We are obviously not capable of sterile manufacturing but we do our best to ensure we don’t spread anything by removing the model from the 3D printer while wearing gloves and a mask and inserting the printed model into a plastic bag.

The first batch of 50 completed face shields was delivered last week to UCSF/SFGeneral emergency room. Special thanks to Diego Fonstad, Founder of Lectrify.it for connecting Hamlin to this meaningful project.

-Guest blog by Brian Louie (Hamlin Design and Maker Teacher)

More about our Maker Program at Hamlin:

The Hamlin School Maker Program is designed to deliver moments of impact where girls engage in real world problem solving through Human Centered Design Thinking. Students become problem seekers, focusing on community empathy and collaboration, using ongoing client feedback to drive the direction of their projects. Through their Maker work, our girls work diligently with tools, while developing a new lens by which to see possibility, adaptation, and innovation.

Grade 8 Volunteers at Alemany Farm

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Last Friday, altruistic Grade 8 students helped out at Alemany Farm.

Ms. Tart-Zelvin shares:

“We partnered with San Francisco Recreation & Parks at Alemany Farm, which is the largest urban farm in San Francisco and generates some 26,000 pounds of produce annually. The girls got a tour of the farm and all the produce it grows, helped weed and mulch, and even harvested some vegetables for The Free Farm Stand. In keeping with both Hamlin’s mission and the creed, the girls jumped right in to the tasks delegated to them by the volunteers. They weren’t shy about getting dirty or schlepping wheelbarrows full of mulch; they worked well together, had a good time, and their impact was noticeable when we left in the afternoon. When we got back to Hamlin at the end of the day, the girls reported that they were tired, but good tired, and that weeding had been a lot of fun.”

Mission Statement for Alemany Farm:

Friends of Alemany Farm grows food security and educates local residents about how they can become their own food producers. We strive to increase ecological knowledge and habitat value, and to sow the seeds for economic and environmental justice. All of the food we grow is given away for free—to neighbors, volunteers, The Free Farm Stand, and other groups.

Serving San Francisco in Grade 7

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On Thursday, Grade 7 students left campus to volunteer with the nonprofits Glide, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, and Matter of Trust. This was the 2nd of three grade- wide service days. The next one is scheduled for April.

The day was designed to help our students explore as they prepare for their Rise to the Challenge (RTC) capstone project work (taking place in May). For RTC, girls will work to identify challenges they feel passionate about, then develop action plans to address those challenges, using their knowledge, resources, and collaborative talents. Students will have the opportunity to choose their own topics, do in-depth research, then share their findings, providing short and long-term solutions to various local and global problems.

Today’s work supported three organizations. Their missions are:

Glide:

Glide is a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization.

Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation:

TNDC develops community and provides affordable housing and services for people with low incomes in the Tenderloin and throughout San Francisco to promote equitable access to opportunity and resources.

Matter of Trust:

Matter of Trust’s mission concentrates on the positive, ecological progress and the environment we do want. Our many programs work in integrated cycles, mimicking Mother Nature. We highlight natural abundance in equilibrium, integrating renewable resources into manufacturing and green jobs. We enthusiastically promote recycling, reuse and redistribution.

Day of Service with Grade 7

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On Tuesday, Grade 7 students left campus to volunteer and visit with the nonprofits Glide, St. Anthony’s, Faithful Fools, Lava Mae (in Oakland), and Matter of Trust. 

The objectives for the day were to: foster community, team build, cultivate empathy, and learn how service can impact the world.

Highlights of the day included the following:

-Dancing to ABBA while serving and cleaning up breakfast at Glide

-Eating at St. Anthony’s Dining Room

-Quietly reflecting on time spent in the Tenderloin

-Meeting members of the Faithful Fools

-Helping out with a Lava Mae Pop Up Care Village

-Matting hair (for beach clean ups) and sorting eco products at Matter of Trust

During the reflection time, one student shared the following about her experience at Glide:

We are all humans with the same wants and needs. We should all help each other because that is what we are supposed to do. 

Below are links to the various organizations:

https://lavamae.org/

https://www.glide.org/

https://www.stanthonysf.org/

https://matteroftrust.org/

https://www.faithfulfools.org/

 

Glide Minister Speaks at Hamlin

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Wednesday afternoon, we welcomed Reverend Harry Louis Williams II. Reverend Williams has worked at Glide Memorial Church for the past 13 years. He spoke with Grade 7 students about his outreach ministry with people experiencing poverty on the streets of East Oakland and the Tenderloin in San Francisco.

Reverend Harry Louis Williams II, is a minister and social activist hailing from Oakland, CA. He is the author or co-author of eight books, ranging in genre from Black History to Urban Fiction. In 2015, the Oakland City Council awarded Williams a proclamation for his work in healing street-level violence in the Oakland, CA inner city, as well as his efforts to bring awareness to the epidemic of commercial sexual exploitation of children and comfort to its victims.

Reverend Williams spoke to students about the difficulties faced by children born into poverty. He asked audience members to visualize a recent excursion he took to East Oakland’s “Village Homeless Encampment.” He described a 4-year boy named Michael who lived in the encampment without parents, electricity, daily hygiene, and a regular source of food. He asked our Hamlin students how Michael would be treated when he started elementary school. Students responded with empathetic sentiments, expressing how alone and alienated Michael would likely feel.

Reverend Williams told our students, “you are fantastic, the future is yours, you are someone’s answer.” He closed by encouraging our girls to give back and volunteer to help others who are not as fortunate as they are.

 

Hamlin’s Book Drive

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From November 2nd through 17th, Hamlin students and parents worked diligently to collect 3,346 books that were generously donated by members of our community. The volunteers sorted and stacked books during lunch with dedication and care. The large team of students also organized the event in terms of advertising and getting the word out.

This year books were donated to:

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