Through Service & Labor, students strengthen the Sitka community, act on responsibilities to others, and are accountable to each other as part of the Outer Coast community.
In service, Outer Coast students build relationships with partner nonprofit, government, and tribal institutions, collaborating on projects that meet the needs of the Sitka community. Service projects have included working alongside the Forest Service to maintain Ḵaasda Héen (Indian River) Trail, managing communications for Sitkans Against Family Violence, organizing a ‘One Book, One Community’ reading of The Racial Healing Handbook with the Sitka Reads Project, and assisting with historic building and boat restoration with the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society. Together, students and their service partners create and implement these service projects. As students grow as collaborators, they brainstorm, coordinate, and execute projects of their own. In the process, they learn that service is not just an accumulation of hours but a collective responsibility to the communities of Sitka.
In labor, students serve as kitchen interns and work alongside a chef to cook community meals and learn the ins and outs of a commercial kitchen. Be it deep-cleaning a stove all afternoon or preparing a meal for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the kitchen brings the Student Body together.
Students also clean and maintain residential spaces, minimize their carbon footprint, and contribute to all the little things that keep Outer Coast running. They realize the stakes of their accountability: if one student leaves garbage lying around, the whole Student Body is responsible when a curious bear pays a visit. The responsibility is real. Failure is too. Students learn from both.
