Students at Linwood Middle School, which was both a PACES lead partner school and a Learn & Serve grantee, just love to collaborate. That spirit of partnering with others was obvious throughout the state in their outstanding work with both Hubbard and Maxson Middle Schools in Plainfield, and Lake Riviera Middle School in Brick. They joined hands with these schools to create outstanding service-learning projects. The students are equally strong in collaborating with one another in designing innovative projects.

The many-layered Monarch Project was conceived as a tribute “the memory of a former Linwood student and patient at Robert Wood Johnson Pediatric who succumbed to Wiskott – Aldrich Syndrome in 2007.”  The student, despite being very ill, spent much of his time trying to make the hospital stays of other children more tolerable. Knowing of his love for the monarch butterfly, the Linwood MS students learned about the lives and migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly (science and social studies) and created a butterfly garden in the school courtyard.  The students also designed different art projects incorporating the monarch butterfly to brighten the pediatric oncology wing at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. The responses of the young people hospitalized at Robert Wood showed that the efforts of the Linwood Middle School had indeed brightened their day; the Linwood students not only honed their skills in many disciplines, but also realized the joy derived from giving to others.


Linwood has a high English language learner population who are eager to learn about American traditions and symbols. The second initiative, the “Flags of our Fathers” project, was a presentation designed by sixth-grade students, in conjunction with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, to foster an understanding of the history and meaning behind the American flag. The presentation, specifically geared to the needs of ELL (English language learners) students, incorporated the background information provided by the VFW, material learned in the social studies class, and research done individually and collaboratively. An art project that recreated the American flag, using the handprints of all sixth graders, was the highlight of the presentation.

To quote the reflection of a sixth grader:

“It was much better than a boring history lesson.”

Moreover, the project developed empathy, responsibility, respect, and good citizenship in the process.