GSB Celebrates 30th Annual Stone Soup Day Spreading the Spirit of Community Service to Students
GLADSTONE, N.J., Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Gill St. Bernard's School community will celebrate a time-honored tradition known as Stone Soup Day in the school's Todd Quad on Wednesday, October 3.
An event co-founded by former Kindergarten teacher Jan Hays and Lower School librarian Pauline Lurie 30 years ago, Stone Soup Day serves to remind each division that even the seemingly impossible can be accomplished when everyone makes a contribution. Hay's and Lurie's inspiration for Stone Soup Day originated from an age-old fable that tells of two soldiers looking for food during a great famine. In this story, the hungry soldiers use a "soup stone" to trick a town of greedy peasants into sharing their hoarded rations. After bringing water to boil and adding several stones to a cauldron, the soldiers then convince the peasants to contribute salt, pepper, carrots, beef and more - resulting in enough soup to feed the entire village.
In alignment with this legendary tale, "GSB's Stone Soup Day aims to foster a sense of community by having all of our students, including the youngest children in the school, participate in a service activity," said Director of Studies Peter Schmidt.
GSB's 2012 Stone Soup Day will consist of those seniors and eighth grade students who joined the school in Kindergarten, as well as all Lower School students, passing a stone on to this year's youngest member of the community - Ariana Isusi '27 of Basking Ridge. Once the stone, along with other ingredients including corn, celery, peppers, onions, carrots, potatoes and noodles have been added by Lower School students Pre-K to grade four, GSB's soup will then be donated to the Plainfield Senior Citizen's Center. Monetary donations are also accepted to be contributed to the Center. Hays will join the GSB community in celebration of this wonderful tradition's 30th year. As is customary, the Stone Soup ceremony will also include a musical performance to the Stone Soup Song as well as storytelling in Todd Quad. Stone Soup will be offered in the GSB Dining Hall the following day.
Aside from receiving Stone Soup donations from Gill St. Bernard's for more than 20 years, the Plainfield Senior Citizen's Center also meets with the school's Lower and Middle School divisions on numerous occasions throughout the school year. Additional activities include monthly soup and sandwich handouts, as well as a luncheon and Middle School play performance for all Senior Citizens in the spring.
Gill St. Bernard's School (GSB), established in 1900, is an independent college preparatory school located in Gladstone, NJ for grades Pre-K through 12.
SOURCE Gill St. Bernard's School
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