Building character through service to others and being aware of the world around you are characteristics that Lausanne consistently strives to teach its students.
For Lausanne seventh-graders, these traits are at the forefront of their minds, so the students set out to understand how they can help make the community they live in a better place.
These efforts tie into their yearly service learning project. This year, seventh-graders are creating a product or service to help promote food equity in Memphis.
To help understand what is already happening in the community, students held the Lausanne Middle School Food Equity Summit in EPAC, and hosted guests from local non-profits to speak about how their organization works every day to bring solutions.
Representatives from Big Green Memphis, The Mid-South Food Bank, Crump Elementary and Girls Inc. participated in the summit and answered questions about their organizations.
“Food equity is a major social justice issue in our city,” said seventh-grade teacher Hilary Simpson. "It is important that our students learn about this issue so that they are empowered to help create lasting solutions. Our students are young, but they care about making the world better. An important part of their education is developing the awareness, compassion, and skills to do that!”
During the summit, middle schoolers learned about communities in Memphis that do not have access to a grocery store, gardens that donate their food to underserved schools, kids their age who do not have the same resources as Lausanne students do and the strides being taken to help these issues.