Learning Through Service

Princeton Junior School is a diverse community made up of parents, students and faculty with a variety of passions, interests and cultures that together create a connected community that supports our school as well as our local and global communities.

CONNECTING AND SERVING

Our grade level units of inquiry provide meaningful, relevant and age appropriate opportunities for student action and reflection.  For example, during an inquiry into the transdisciplinary theme ‘How we organize ourselves’, second and third grade entrepreneurs turned the PJS Commons into a marketplace offering a variety of handmade products and services that included jewelry depicting endangered animals of New Jersey, specialty paper airplanes, and healthy smoothies.  The $500 raised at the PJS Marketplace was sent to Heifer International to purchase livestock and training for a family farm in a developing country.

Student Council

THE PJS GLITTER LEMONADE CLUB

The Glitter Lemonade mission is as follows:

Glitter Lemonade is a non-profit foundation sponsoring altruistic efforts by children, that benefit charities and champion causes in the spirit of goodwill; each effort is an exercise in civic virtue. Our philosophy is simple and purposeful: integrate philanthropy into early childhood, so a connection will be made between community service and self enrichment during the developmental years. You can find more information about the GL Club on the PJS website at: http://www.princetonjuniorschool.org/our-partners/.

Each year, the PJS Glitter Lemonade Club student members create booths at local community events. These interactive make-your-own Glitter Lemonade Stands are highlights of the year for our student members. Volunteering at the booth and educating the public about their cause is a memorable and valuable experience and source of pride.  

In past years, the PJS Glitter Lemonade Club has created the following campaigns:

  • PJS GLC members raised money and shopped for books and toys at our annual book fair to support students at LaVallette Elementary School who had lost all their belongings during Hurricane Sandy (link to news article)

  • Students chose to raise awareness about the water crisis and contribute to the construction of a freshwater well in a developing country through the international organization, Charity:Water http://www.glitterlemonade.com/fundraiser/pjs/charitywater 

  • Students planned an annual Valentine’s Day Love and Friendship breakfast and sing along for preschoolers from Homefront’s Cherry Tree Club

  • Students raised funds to support elementary school students affected affected by Hurricane Irma in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  In order to help those left without food and shelter, our club decided that instead of donating to a larger organization, such as the Red Cross, they would like the proceeds of their stand to go to a local community organization with the ability to funnel the funds directly to a school in need. The St. John Community Foundation directed our donation to an elementary school within the St. Thomas/St. John school district. SJCF was founded after the devastation that Hurricane Hugo inflicted on the island in 1989. To learn more, you can visit their website at thestjohnfoundation.org.

  • Our club chose to raise funding and awareness for One Simple Wish, a local organization that grants wishes to children in foster care. We learned that each year over 400,000 children live in America’s foster care system, removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect and abandonment. One Simple Wish asks kids what they need to make their lives a little brighter. Through OSW, our club was able to fulfill the wishes of three children in foster care, including a new bicycle, sports equipment and even a trip to Disneyland!

  • Hurricane Florence recently devastated the coast of North and South Carolina. The Glitter Lemonade club was able to raise over $1,100 this fall to donate to the All Hands and Hearts Smart Response Organization--addressing the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. All Hands and Hearts is working to rebuild safe, resilient schools, homes and other community infrastructure that was destroyed by Hurricane Florence.