In Palm Harbor there’s a one-room school house with a schoolmarm.
Well actually, it’s a 21st century version of said school. Welcome to the Service Learning School.
The schoolmarm’s name is Jaime Manfra.
Manfra said it all began about two years ago when she decided to home school her two children, but wanted them to be with other students.
“Instead of doing it alone, I wanted to have a class for social interaction and that became a service based school of sorts. We’ve done service projects in our neighborhood for years,” Manfra said.
Some of those projects include collecting aluminum cans to raise money for Shriners Hospital, collecting desperately needed medicine bottles for Malawi, and crayons for school children in Panama…..
Making a difference at home and around the world, and in Manfra’s words, “…inspire the kids to serve the community, to volunteer. To address global and community needs also helps facilitate academic learning because they’re eager to work.”
Right now, there are 12 students at the school, and teaching at Manfra’s side, another mom, Alison Keys.
Located at the Palm Harbor Community Recreation Center, the Service Learning School is non-profit organization and its ranks are full. Self-funded by Manfra and local contributions, she hopes to grow and accept even more students of all ages and from all grades.
There is no tuition fee, just love and passion for a one room school and its students.
“The philosophy of the school is to get children to understand and recognize and actively seek out diversity so that they understand that we’re all human beings in this world and their role in social responsibility, their role in an ever advancing society is to reach out and assist and understand one another,” Manfra said.