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View Winners → Pasadena Maranatha High School Adopts Portion of Caltrans Highway
Education Dec 13, 2019
Image used for illustration only. - Courtesy photo / Ken Lund (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Image used for illustration only. – Courtesy photo / Ken Lund (CC BY-SA 2.0)
There is an expectation at Maranatha High School that each student will complete service hours during the year as part of their enrollment. One of their adages is “We commit to be intentional in discovering the true needs of those living in the Pasadena area and working towards meeting those needs.” Towards that end, the prestigious Pasadena private school sought meaningful community service options for their students, learned about Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway program and wound up adopting a portion of State Route 210. A few times each month Dean of Student Ministries Michael Mancini and Maranatha students can be seen picking up litter between Hill and Sunnyslope avenues on State Route 210.
According to Mancini, the students receive inquiries about their work and adopting this portion of the freeway is a win-win because it allows Maranatha students the opportunity to fulfill service obligations and it assists Caltrans in keeping a portion of the 210 free of litter and debris.
“We have found that doing our service as a community builds us up and gives us the opportunity to grow. The students love it because it gets them out of the classroom setting and outdoors where they engage in meaningful service-related dialogue with other students as well as commuters who sometimes will see us working and ask what we’re doing” states Mancini.
If it takes a village, Maranatha High School is certainly a large part of that village. Adopting a portion of a highway is just one of many service-oriented, humanitarian activities the students engage in. Says Maranatha’s Head of School John Rouse, “We are a Christ-centered school, full of rich tradition and timeless core values. Maranatha offers a transformational education model with an exceptional program geared towards transforming minds and hearts as it prepares students for living lives of purpose and distinction.”
Caltrans strongly encourages participation in its Adopt-A-Highway program to empower, unite and strengthen communities, increase awareness about environmental issues and make a huge difference. Caltrans spent approximately $70 million in cleaning up litter in 2018.
