By MHA News — Highlands Ranch, Colorado … “I enjoyed giving to people and spreading God’s word,” said Lindsey, Mile High Academy seventh-grader, reflecting on their annual service day.

Recently, MHA students and staff participated in the school’s annual Love Matters Most Service Day on April 22.

Becca Berg, upper school teacher, chaplain and service day coordinator, explains why service is important to MHA. “Service is a humbling part of our CHERISH core values. Not only is the event a highlight of the school year, [but it also] gives our students a day to focus on walking in Jesus’ footsteps by serving and helping others.”

This year’s focus was on serving several Denver-metro area churches. The students worked hard organizing Sabbath School rooms, vacuuming and dusting, washing windows, cleaning up flowerbeds and handing out bags of food and other necessities to homes in the area.

“We are so grateful that Mrs. Berg and the freshman class came to Franktown for service day,” said Jamey Houghton, Franktown pastor. “The kids helped us out in two specific ways. First, they washed the outside windows, freshening up the look of the church. Second, they helped us out with a problem that probably no other churches have–keeping the cows out. Our neighbor has cows that get through parts of the fence and come visit our church. Pastor Michael Luchak, Franktown associate pastor, took some of the kids down to [help] block the open parts of the fence so the cows will stay on their side. Both jobs were big, and I’m so thankful to have had the help of the kids from Mile High Academy!”

On the other side of Denver, the senior class helped LifeSource unload a semi-trailer filled with miscellaneous items, which LifeSource, in turn, donates to community members with needs.

“It was awesome to have the senior class join in our monthly outreach. Even though the forklift came late, they were still able to unload the entire semi-trailer in record time! We wouldn’t have been able to get the job done without their help,” commented Seth Day, LifeSource co-pastor.

Remaining on campus, the lower grades and the sophomore class made cards for the churches and hospitals and performed campus beautification duties, including picking up trash, pulling weeds and sorting out the school’s storage area.

Working under the bleachers and cleaning up trash, the fourth-grade girls came across a photo of a non-MHA student. Dubbed “a random guy,” the photo brought many giggles to the class.

“The girls were so excited to find their treasure,” said Sherri Francis, fourth-grade teacher. “I couldn’t help but laugh when they declared it an antique from 1990, although it was in color. A fun memory from a fun day.”

Reflecting on service day, eighth-grader Jack summed up the event best when he said, “Overall it was a good day of service.”

Each student received a 2021 blue service day shirt and the day concluded with a pizza lunch provided by school administration.

“There’s always a lot of work, planning and prayer that goes into each service day,” said Berg. “But when I hear the students’ excitement about how they helped someone in need or, in this case, helped get our churches and the MHA campus looking sharp, I can step back and clearly see just how God has given Mile High Academy the opportunity to be a light in the community.”

–MHA News; photos supplied