Millbrook Hosts Panel of Service Leaders for Friday Forum

Friday Forums are an essential tradition that brings the community together to for performances and presentations by interesting and often nationally renowned speakers on topics related to Millbrook’s core values. This year’s core value is service, so the first forum of the school year featured a panel of five local service leaders:

 

 

Longtime faculty member Kathy Havard opened the forum with a reminder of the history of service at Millbrook School. She highlighted founder Edward Pulling’s belief that service is an integral part of training young people, noting how his vision was realized, as from the beginning Millbrook students played a vital role in maintaining campus. Kathy advised students that dedicating themselves to service will help them feel needed, energized, and joyful. “Service is the antidote to stress,” she said.

Breaking form the usual forum format, the rest of the night featured a Q&A with the panel of guests, led by members of the Chapel Council. Through the discussion, the panelists shared about moments in their lives that led them to service, explaining the challenges they face and the fulfilling moments that keep them going. They also encouraged the crowd to see the real value in the service they do. As Descoteaux put it, “Every single person here can make a difference. Every single person here can serve and do something to make the world a little bit better.”

The forum encapsulated what Millbrook imparts to students so well: that service—whether as menial as collecting recycling during community service or performing consequential conservation work at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo or feeding those in need at Food of Life Pantry—is the foundation on which all their future successes will be built. As Gibbs eloquently explained during the panel discussion, “It's not just transactional; it’s transformative as well.”

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