No School, But No Day Off For Student Volunteers On MLK Day
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- While a day off from school might mean sleeping in, hundreds of school students across the region used the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday to volunteer and serve their communities.
Perkiomen Valley elementary, middle, and high school students took part in activities Monday ranging from making chew toys for an animal shelter to making fleece blankets for children in need.
"It's not really a day off," said Perkiomen Valley principal Cynthia Moss. "It's a day about giving."
Students also heard from Aidsand Right-Wriggins, recently elected mayor of Collegeville. His message: not only is physical non-violence important, but also verbal non-violence:
"We live in a day and age in which we use words and phrases and terms that turn people into 'the other,'" he said, "into things and that are just as violent as physically assaulting someone."
Wright-Riggins served as Director of Peace and Justice with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference teaching non-violent communications and ways to engage without resorting to physical or verbal harm. He says he hopes the lesson on MLK Day is that only light can drive out darkness, only love can drive out hate.
"And that we've got to find another way," he said. "All the way from our kids in school to our politicians at the highest level."