Past Projects
2021 - 2022
CASE 2021
In the second year of CASE, more students were able to engage with more current issues that they connected with. From climate change to homelessness in our neighborhoods and beyond, students made a difference for many causes.
CASE 2021 culminated with the Summer ShowCASE, which was held in the all-new Spieker Center. Students had the option of giving a presentation on the stage, or create a booth in an exhibition outside. This format allowed students to present and share their project in the manner that was appropriate to them, while at the same time educating and empowering the Menlo Community.
Peninsula Bridge Fun Run
The 9th annual Peninsula Bridge Fun Run (formerly called the Valpo Run) took place September 19, 2021. The event occurred both virtually and in person, with virtual participants creating their own 5K loop. All donations from the run went to Peninsula Bridge, an organization that helps low-income families with education. KV worked on creating the intro video, filling the color bottles, and helping promote the event.
Thanksgiving Food Drive
To help those who are less fortunate during the holiday season, Knight Vision raised money and collected materials to assemble Thanksgiving dinner baskets. These baskets contained many Thanksgiving themed non-perishable goods, such as canned vegetables and instant mashed potatoes. The money raised went towards gift cards that would be used for more thanksgiving food. These baskets were created and donated to LifeMoves' UpStream program, which helps those who are at the risk of homelessness.
12 Days of Kindness
As the pandemic continued to upend the lives of many members of our community, Knight Vision held the Twelve Days of Kindness Challenge for the second time. KV's Twelve Days of Kindness challenge lasted from Dec. 17 to Dec. 28, where Menlo families were invited to do one random act of kindness each day. KV has compiled a list of activities for participants to choose from, ranging from donating old clothes to leaving a holiday note for your mail carrier. We asked participants to let us know about their acts of kindness every day, and received many accounts of Menlo Students helping their family members and community.
Sunday Friends Costume Drive
From September 27 to October 8, Knight Vision is running a Halloween costume drive benefiting Sunday Friends, which supports San Jose families in breaking the cycle of poverty. Donations of new costumes (in their original packaging), wigs, face paint/makeup, and other Halloween items can be dropped off in marked boxes at the reception desk and in front of school.
Soccer Without Borders Bake Sale
On February 3rd, Knight Vision, the Athlete Empowerment Club, and the Menlo Soccer teams ran a bake sale to benefit Soccer Without Borders, an organization that allows underserved youth in the US and beyond to play soccer. This was Knight Vision's first collaboration with a sport team and another club, allowing this opportunity to reach more Menlo Students.
CE Week
Knight Vision has organized events each day for Menlo students to participate in community engagement and explore different causes. We hope you'll join! Our theme for this week is "Why do you do CE?"
2020 - 2021
CASE 2020
Through the Community Action Summer Experience (CASE), KV supported 19 Menlo students in pursuing personal initiatives relevant to their local and broader communities. The program began with research and then transitioned into a project phase. Finally, CASE 2020 culminated in a call to action where participants found ways to encourage others to get involved and make a difference. We hosted a four-day speaker series at the end of the program where each CASE student presented about their initiative to members of the Menlo community.
8th Annual Peninsula Bridge Fun Run
The 8th annual Peninsula Bridge Fun Run (formerly called the Valpo Run) took place September 13 -20, 2020. The event occurred virtually, with a kick-off video and participants "5K-ing their way" by running, walking, biking, or stationary biking in their neighborhood or their home. KV worked on creating the intro video and helped promote the event.
California Wildfire Relief 2020
The fall wildfire season in 2020 burned millions of acres and devastated communities across our state. In response, Knight Vision formed a committee to provide relief through a three-part initiative. We hosted a GoFundMe that raised $2,000 for relief efforts, and we planned an event to assemble care packages for wildfire victims. The final component to our fire relief initiative was a card-writing campaign to express gratitude toward firefighters.
Menlo Votes!
In anticipation of the November 3 elections, KV helped organize a series of events about democracy, civil discourse, and voting. Events included informational sessions with guest and student speakers, an school-wide assembly, a school-wide advocacy program, and a mock election. Through Menlo Votes!, KV worked with Menlo administration members to encourage students, parents, and others in the school community to become more engaged in the political process.
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a screenshot from @pbfunrun on Instagram!
Workshops with CRI
Knight Vision, in partnership with the California Reentry Institute (CRI), hosted a three-part workshop series on restorative justice and rehabilitation. CRI helps facilitate successful reentry for men who are or have been incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. The three workshops involved an introduction restorative justice, a session where students and community members heard stories from formerly incarcerated men, and a workshop on designing participants' own ideal criminal justice system.
Penny Wars for Meals on Wheels
As our 2020 November Fund, KV held a fundraiser to support the San Francisco chapter of Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels is a national non-profit organization that provides vulnerable seniors with food and care, allowing them to live in their homes with dignity and independence as long as possible. With 89% of Meals On Wheels chapters reporting an increased demand during the pandemic, Knight Vision decided to help by organizing a Penny War between the four hybrid learning groups at Menlo in November: Gold A, Blue A, Gold B, and Blue B. KV also wrote and collected more than 100 cards for Meals On Wheels to give out with their meals!
Twelve Days of Kindness
As the pandemic isolated people and created stress during the holiday season, small acts of kindness became even more meaningful than they might under normal circumstances. KV's Twelve Days of Kindness challenge lasted from Dec. 13 to Dec. 24, where Menlo families were invited to do one random act of kindness each day. KV has compiled a list of activities for participants to choose from, ranging from from donating old clothes to leaving a holiday note for your mail carrier. We asked participants to let us know about their acts of kindness every day, and we received more than 200 total submissions!
Holiday Care Packages for Life Moves
This year, the Menlo community voted to support the organization Life Moves through KV's year-long fund. Life Moves targets homelessness in Silicon Valley by providing temporary shelters, along with case management until homeless individuals can return to stable housing and maintain long-term self-sufficiency. For our first fundraising initiative, KV is making holiday care packages that will be directed to Life Moves’ newest program, a safe parking site in Redwood City. These packages will include blankets, face masks, hand warmers, hand sanitizer, reusable bags, and handwritten cards.
Virtual Walkathon for the United Farm Workers
Knight Vision hosted a virtual walkathon during the week of Feb. 8-14 to support the United Farm Workers (UFW), an organization that helps protect farm workers from the abuse, harsh conditions, and exploitation they often face. Over the course of the week, all Menlo community members were invited to run, walk, or otherwise cover as many miles as they could. We had over 50 participants during the walkathon and collectively covered hundreds of miles! The most active participants won prizes courtesy of Trader Joe's. Through this week-long event, we raised more than $4,500 to donate to UFW.
Community Engagement Assembly 2021
Knight Vision organized and hosted Menlo's annual community engagement assembly in March 2021. The event theme was "So What Will You Do?" and encouraged students to take action on issues affecting their local and broader communities. All Upper School students attended the event, which featured Rafael Avendaño, the Executive Director at Redwood City Together. The assembly also highlighted several students pursuing unique community engagement projects and suggested opportunities for students to further engage with their communities.
Knight Vision created a video for the CE assembly, featuring Menlo students' experiences with community engagement.
April Climate Initiatives
In April 2021, Knight Vision worked on three climate-related initiatives. The first, a month-long beach cleanup challenge, encouraged Menlo students to visit local parks and beaches with friends to pick up trash. The second, a plant and succulent sale, was run in partnership with the Menlo Gardening Club and raised over $200 for 350 Bay Area. The third initiative was a two-part speaker series during the Climate Coalition's EcoAct Week, where students presented about fast fashion and the Sixth Wave of Mass Extinction during lunchtime talks.
Cards for Teachers
As we reflected on the 2020-21 school year and our community, KV decided to create individualized cards to thank the teachers and staff at Menlo. KV members collectively wrote, decorated, and delivered nearly 150 cards by the end of the school year. THANK YOU TEACHERS!!!
2019 - 2020
Year-long Fund: Downtown Streets Team
As a year-long commitment, we raised funds for Downtown Streets Team (DST) through projects like bake sales and a penny war. DST provides resources and opportunities for homeless individuals to rebuild their lives through doing good and cleaning up the environment. KV also organized a letter-writing gratitude event and baked goods collection for DST team members.
Valpo Fun Run 2019
Over 600 community members showed up to our 7th annual Valpo Fun Run! Each year, KV helps host a 5K color run to benefit Peninsula Bridge, an organization that supports students from low-income families to pursue high-quality education. At this year's event, several dozen Menlo students volunteered by working at water stations and cheering on runners along the route.
The Ethical Halloween Campaign
For our October 2019 project, KV led a campaign to promote fair trade chocolate. Several popular candy corporations, including The Hershey Company and Nestlé, sell chocolate produced through child labor and other unethical sources. KV created informational flyers to spread around campus and held a bake sale selling fair trade chocolate chip cookies and brownies.
1Bay Convention
KV helped organize the first ever 1Bay convention in 2019, with over 100 students from different Bay Area schools participating, in addition to all Menlo students. 37 community organizations hosted informational booths on the Loop, and a special assembly featured Pastor Mike McBride. KV also held a boba tea sale at lunch, raising over $200 for Downtown Streets Team!
Police Violence Trauma Packages
As a part of an Independent Study project by KV's Treasurer with the Truth Telling Project, we helped facilitate an item drive to create care packages for victims of police violence and their families. We also raised awareness by making signs about police brutality, which we placed outside the Student Center.
Fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank
Our original plan involved hosting a week-long food drive on campus for Second Harvest, but we modified this plan after the school closure in March forced us to move the initiative online. Instead of the in-person food drive, we decided to host a virtual fundraiser and raised $950 for Second Harvest, which will help feed many of the hundreds of thousands of people they serve.
Menlo Gives Back with Gift Cards
In response to the economic damage created by the COVID-19 pandemic, KV hosted a GoFundMe campaign to buy and donate grocery gift cards to low-income families and individuals who have suffered financial loss. We donated the gift cards to the Ecumenical Hunger Program and to Sunday Friends to distribute to their clients. The generosity of our community allowed us to raise over $6,000 in two months!
2018 - 2019
Valpo Fun Run 2018
The 6th Annual Valpo Color Run turned out to be a big success! Nearly 550 participants joined the 5K benefit run for Peninsula Bridge, raising over $7,000 in donations. Peninsula Bridge is an organization in the Bay Area that helps students from low-income families pursue high-quality education.
St. Francis Center Book Drive
In December, Knight Vision hosted a two-week on-campus book drive, collecting books to contribute to a new children's library for underprivileged young students in the Redwood City community. Members of the school community donated children's books based on a wish list we provided, and we ultimately surpassed our 400 book goal. A few KV members attended the official library opening!
California Wildfire Relief Campaign
In response to the devastating wildfires that destroyed many parts of California in November 2019, Knight Vision started a campaign to raise money and awareness. We raised $2,290 in 45 minutes during one advocacy session and donated the funds to the California Fire Foundation's SAVE program. We also hosted an event where students wrote messages of support on paper hearts and posted them on a wall in the Student Center.
Community Engagement Special Assembly
During the CE special assembly this year, Menlo students learned about ways to become involved with their community. They heard from some of their own peers who spoke about their experiences with community engagement; the assembly also featured a video compilation by KV about various Menlo students' commitments to higher purposes.
Special Olympics 2019
Our 28th Annual Special Olympics brought hundreds of Special Olympics athletes, as well as hundreds more Menlo student volunteers who signed up to be buddies for the athletes, to our campus for a day of fun and community-building. Everyone who attended received a free t-shirt, got to join us for a lunch barbecue, and participated in activities and event!
Penny Wars for WE Charity
KV, with the input of the Menlo student body, chose to support WE Charity through our 2019 spring fundraiser. We held bake sales and hosted a successful penny war over several months, surpassing our fundraising goal of $1000. WE Charity supports people and communities in developing areas by helping them build sustainable structures that provide access to food, water, education, health, and opportunity.
