The Middle School years at Spence provide a perfect opportunity to build on some of the big ideas about service that were learned in the Lower School—serve locally first, create reciprocal relationships when serving, and define the help you give with the person or organization that needs help. We incorporate into our advisory program service projects at each grade level. By partnering with a different NYC nonprofit at each grade level in Middle School, we help our students not only understand the myriad and complexity of issues present in our great city but also introduce them to deeper questions about the causes of these issues and how individuals and organizations with power can either ignore or fight against these issues. Through our Middle School service-learning program, we teach students to use their understanding of their own identity to engage multiple perspectives that are different from their own and to use this learning to serve better.