Service by Design: Eastern High Students Craft Connection for the Holidays

For many, the holidays are a season of gathering, but for the elderly in assisted living facilities, it can often be a time of isolation. This December, the students of Eastern High School’s Service and Design Academy are using their creative talents to build community connections, one handmade card at a time.

Through a partnership with the non-profit organization GlamourGals and their "My Dear Friend" campaign, Eastern students are creating and distributing holiday cards designed to reduce loneliness among seniors. While the project is a heartwarming act of community service, it is also a practical application of the skills students are mastering in their career pathways.

“I think the Service and Design Academy is the best fit for this project because they are learning to be service leaders naturally,” explains Laila Felli, Eastern’s Academy Coach who coordinated the event. “This is just a way for them to give back to the Middletown community, giving directly back to the community where we're learning each day.”

The Human Connection: Early Childhood Education

For Kate, a junior in the Early Childhood Education Pathway, the project might seem disconnected from her curriculum at first glance. Her pathway focuses on the intellectual and social development of children from birth to age five. However, Kate recognizes that the fundamental principles of care translate across all generations.

“Obviously it's a different age group, but it's the core principle of wanting to help people and make them feel like they're seen and valued,” Kate says.

In her classes, Kate learns why human beings need specific types of interaction to thrive, skills that she has already practiced during site visits to the Westport Early Childhood Center. Applying that empathy to the elderly is a natural extension of her training.

“We’re writing encouraging messages, helping elderly people to not feel lonely and just feel like they have someone that's thinking of them and supporting them,” she adds. “It really just goes along with what we've been learning from since I started the Pathway to now: helping everyone and making sure that they have a voice in the world and that they matter.”

Applied Creativity: Graphic Design

While the sentiment comes from the heart, the execution comes from the studio. For Ruby, a student in the Graphic Design Pathway, this service project serves as a real-world design challenge.

Ruby aspires to be an entrepreneur and own a hair salon, a career where marketing and client relations will be key. She views the card creation not just as a craft, but as an exercise in design theory.

“It helps me come up with more creative designs rather than just something generic. You can really come up with a bunch of out-of-the-box things,” Ruby explains. She describes her process for a wreath design, noting how she used her coursework to guide her hand: “I focused on the elements of design, the focal point, just everything around it to make it look concise.”

For Ruby, the project also reinforces the soft skills required in her field. “I'm in the graphic design pathway, but right now I'm in the yearbook portion of that, so I have to talk to clients every day,” she notes. Understanding the end-user—in this case, an elderly recipient—is a critical skill for any designer or business owner.

Powered by Partnership

This school-wide initiative wasn't generated in a silo; it was brought to life through the Academies of Louisville business partnership model. Massage Envy, a partner for the Business Academy, served as the bridge.

“They have collaborated with GlamourGals in the past, and they reached out to us last year to ask if we wanted to help contribute to the My Dear Friend campaign,” says Faley.

What began as a smaller contribution last year has expanded into a significant service project, allowing students to apply their specific talents—whether it be the empathy of an educator or the eye of a designer—to solve a real community problem.

By combining industry partnerships with classroom skills, Eastern High School is ensuring that this holiday season, the residents of Middletown aren't just receiving a card; they are receiving a message that they are seen, valued, and remembered by the next generation of community leaders.