{"id":13946,"date":"2025-06-03T11:04:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=13946"},"modified":"2025-06-03T11:04:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:04:19","slug":"middle-and-high-school-students-make-special-deliveries-to-senior-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/middle-and-high-school-students-make-special-deliveries-to-senior-citizens\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle and high school students make special deliveries to senior citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High School students, including Rylan Clayton and Gabriella Sarasata, recently delivered their hand-painted flowerpots to several local senior communities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Cindy Butler Focke<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Landstown Middle and Landstown High students combined forces to brighten the spirits of senior citizens.<\/p>\n

They painted unique designs on flowerpots and delivered them to residents of several local assisted living homes. During the visit, they played games, painted rocks and engaged in some nice conversations.<\/p>\n

Kaylee Powell heard about the opportunity to participate in the community service project from her gifted resource teacher, Victoria Sachar-Milosevich.<\/p>\n

The Landstown High junior said she enjoyed the experience visiting Bickford of Virginia Beach Assisted Living & Memory Care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey seemed very happy to have someone listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaylee presented her flowerpot painted with stars and jellyfish to a resident named Jill and painted a rock for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe talked about stuff she remembered in her life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gifted resource teachers, Victoria Sachar-Milosevich, left, from Landstown High and Ashley Smith, Landstown Middle, spearheaded a joint community service project with their students this past semester.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the past three years, Sachar-Milosevich, known as \u201cMilo,\u201d has teamed up with her counterpart at Landstown Middle, gifted resource teacher Ashley Smith.<\/p>\n

Word spread about this year\u2019s project and the response was amazing, Sachar-Milosevich said.<\/p>\n

Interest in community service participation has grown exponentially.<\/p>\n

Because there were so many volunteers, the high school students were divided up based on interest. Last semester, one group made about 50 no-sew fleece blankets for ForKids, a nonprofit organization serving the homeless.<\/p>\n

In February, another group began working on flowerpots for nursing home and assisted living community residents.<\/p>\n

Both projects were made possible through a grant from the Virginia Beach Education Foundation.<\/p>\n

THE FLOWERPOT PROJECT<\/h2>\n

Part 1: Meet and Greet<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High School\u2019s first field trip to Landstown Middle as part of the community service flowerpot project involved getting to know each other and coming up with design ideas for the flowerpots. From left, Gabby Torres, Landstown Middle, Landstown High students Myla Smith and Hannah Sarino, Isabela Aguilera, Landstown Middle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Approximately 40 Landstown High students took a field trip to Landstown Middle in February.<\/p>\n

They joined about 80 middle schoolers to learn about the project and get to know each other.<\/p>\n

Sachar-Milosevich explained they\u2019d be giving their finished products to senior citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will have the opportunity to learn from them and them from you,\u201d she told them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, secure your plan and bounce ideas off of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

They brainstormed and sketched out designs on paper. All kinds of unique ideas appeared, from flowers, bees and butterflies to geometric shapes and musical notes.<\/p>\n

Landstown Middle student Kyrie Spaulding drew a basketball hoop design, while Landstown High junior Emily Dao\u2019s drawing transformed a flowerpot into an ice cream cone.<\/p>\n

Eighth graders Ethan Bennett and Max Massetti said the chance to make something for someone else showed that giving to others is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d said Ethan. His idea included sun and grass, while Max\u2019s design incorporated a robot.<\/p>\n

Part 2: Base coats<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown Middle student Edwin Jiang(center) painted a base coat on his flowerpot along with Landstown High freshmen Blythe Wise, left, and Erin Dailey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The high school group returned to Landstown Middle in March to paint the base coats on the flowerpots, which were 4 inches tall and made out of clay. Art teacher Kate Corder provided quite a selection of acrylic paint.<\/p>\n

Conversations flowed during the painting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe answered lots of questions about coursework, sports and clubs and all,\u201d Kaylee said.<\/p>\n

Part 3: Finishing the flowerpots<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The flowerpots were completed at their respective schools during the school day, usually at lunchtime in the gifted resource teachers\u2019 classrooms.<\/p>\n

Part 4: Delivery<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Students recently delivered the flowerpots and interacted with residents.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Makayla Davis visited Bickford Senior Living with Landstown High classmates to deliver flowerpots, play games and interact with residents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sachar-Milosevich said the project was about \u201cbridging the gap\u201d between not only middle school and high school, but with the older generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cReaching out to the community shows compassion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Expanding on the Idea<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The plan is to continue a relationship with several of the centers and return to help in small but meaningful ways, such as gardening or decorating doors for the holidays.<\/p>\n

Kaylee said the experience taught her a lot about helping others.<\/p>\n

Donating money is good, but there are many other ways to help, such as volunteering in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very important to start community service early,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it becomes something like an inkling in your brain when we go out in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High students painted base coats on flowerpots during one of the field trips to work on the collaborative community service project with Landstown Middle. From left, Kaylee Powell, Ethan Bennet, Emily Dao, Maxwell Massetti.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High students painted base coats on flowerpots during one of the field trips to work on the collaborative community service project with Landstown Middle. From left, Kaylee Powell, Ethan Bennet, Emily Dao, Maxwell Massetti.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Landstown High School students played games with Bickford Senior Living residents and also presented them with flowerpots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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