One of the hallmarks of a Hutchison girl is a genuine interest in connecting with the community and having a meaningful impact on others. Servant leadership is an important aspect of the Hutchison experience.
Hutchison Serves connects classroom learning with service in the real world. Girls will discover that the concepts and ideas they are discussing in the classroom, whether in their history, science, or English classes, have relationships to issues in the community. Girls in all school divisions, from Early Childhood to Upper School, work on developmentally appropriate service-learning activities and topics. Older girls are encouraged to take part in hands-on service opportunities on campus and in the community. Hutchison Serves seeks to empower students to make a difference in the lives of others, both locally and globally, inspire them to be change agents in their communities, and instill a lifelong interest in philanthropy.
Hutchison Serves was created by a generous gift from Kirby Dobbs Floyd, Hutchison class of 1982, and her husband Glenn Floyd.
Providing Service Learning & Leadership Opportunities
Girls are given the autonomy and support to research, design, propose, and implement their own sustainable service project in collaboration with a local non-profit organization. Through this work, girls are able to practice project management and financial literacy and learn more about themselves, their community, and the issues they are tackling. They also learn valuable leadership lessons that they can apply to everyday life. The Wilson Society at Hutchison was established by the Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation.
One of the cornerstones of Hutchison Serves is the Philanthropic Literacy Board. Upper school girls build and manage an endowment fund and then determine how to distribute grants to Memphis-area nonprofits. Participating on the board, girls will learn about the formidable responsibilities that come with how and why particular projects and organizations receive funding.
Hutchison girls meet with, plan, and work together with many of Memphis’ nonprofit and community organizations. These partnerships involve all ages of Hutchison girls. In the early childhood division, girls take part in an annual Trike-a-Thon to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In middle school, girls work at the Mid-South Food Bank. In the upper school, girls take part in larger service projects with Memphis organizations such as Refugee Empowerment Program and Streets Ministries.
Our Partners
ADS (Alzheimer’s and Dementia Services) Balmoral Baptist Women’s Memorial Hospital Bellevue Tennis Center Berclair Elementary Big Brothers Big Sisters Bing Dance House Binghampton Christian Academy & Humane Society Binghampton Christian Center Bridge Builders Church Health at Crosstown Concourse Company d FedEx Family House Forrest Spence Fund Girl Scouts Harrah’s Hope Lodge Kroc Center LeBonheur Children’s Hospital Main Library MIFA Mitsubishi Electric Multi-National Ministries Promise Academy Refugee Empowerment Program Regional One Health Second Presbyterian Church Second Presbyterian Ministries Sharpe Elementary School Southern Friends Animal Society Southern Reins Streets Ministries Su Casa The Dixon Art Gallery White Station Elementary School Women’s Foundation of Greater Memphis
Girls in all grade level divisions find connections between their curriculum and service. Topics such as wellness, social justice, and education and empowerment are used to frame service activities. See the video to learn more about the types of service learning curriculum integrated within our classrooms.
The Kirby and Glenn Floyd Excellence in Service Scholarship Award is awarded annually to a Hutchison girl whose service efforts create lasting, positive changes in the community. Considerations for the selection of a winning project include the girl’s commitment to sustainability, overall impact, innovation, and servant leadership. The award winner may focus on a project that is local, national, and/or global in focus and implementation. Those seeking the Floyd Award and Scholarship should exemplify a genuine heart to serve others. All Hutchison girls in Early Childhood, Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School are eligible to apply.
The award includes a $5,000 college scholarship in recognition of the award winner’s significant achievement in service.
Rising juniors and seniors who are part of four myExperience cohorts in Hutchison's Institute for Responsible Citizenship – global civic engagement, entrepreneurship, STEM, and art and design – explored their respective fields of study on trips to New York and Boston.
Note to the State of Tennessee: If you want to get legislation passed, put Hutchison girls in charge! Seventeen juniors wrote and presented six bills at the YMCA Youth in Government conference in Nashville. All of the bills made it onto the Senate and House dockets, and one was signed into law.
Dabney Roberts Ring ’90 joined Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s staff in January 2016. She is currently a Senior Policy Officer and the Federal Relations Lead on Mayor Strickland’s intergovernmental team. She helped build an immersive internship for Hutchison senior Katie Frazer ’23.
Each year, Hutchison seniors on the Philanthropic Literacy Board research community needs and decide how to allocate grant money to local nonprofits that focus on those issues.
Natalie Alexander ’25 is the first recipient of the award. She was chosen because she exhibits characteristicsthe award’s namesake, Dot Jones Hammons ’76, has demonstrated throughout her life: intellectual curiosity, steadfastness, loyalty, kindness, and compassion.
Eleanor Merchant '23 wanted to find a way to help fight the national ongoing blood shortage, so she organized a blood drive at Hutchison. With her efforts over the past two years, blood donations at the Hutchison blood drive could have saved as many as 192 lives.
Allison Blankenship ’12 has committed her 10 years since graduating from Hutchison to working in the political arena, spending the last five years working in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Seniors had a lot to say about the Tom Lee Park redevelopment after a recent Rogers Scholars excursion. And that's the point of these forays into the community. “They keep us aware of what is happening in our city, ultimately making us more well-rounded citizens,” said Emma Couch ’23.
Solving global issues requires research, critical thinking, proposal crafting, and challenging discussions, and our 7th and 8th graders are honing their diplomacy skills through Model United Nations. The YMCA Middle School Model UN Conference provides an opportunity for students to practice their debate and public speaking skills in a formal setting while encouraging them to find ways to join together as a community to solve current global issues.
Katie Frazer ’23 was one of about 40 rising high school seniors selected to participate in the prestigious Lott Leadership Summer Institute program at the University of Mississippi this summer.
Emma Couch ’23 helped provide care for over 500 patients on a medical mission trip to southern Peru with Global Medical Training, an international humanitarian organization that provides free medical and dental services to underserved communities in Central America.
Through heat, sweat, and learning how to use power tools, nine upper school girls worked hard to leave a meaningful impact on their service trip to the Bahamas.
Hutchison Now highlights recent graduates early in their careers who embody how a Hutchison education can lead anywhere you can imagine. We spoke with Catherine Owen ’17, who works at a sustainable oyster farm owned by Aubrey Sanders ’04 on Edisto Island, South Carolina.
National Merit Finalist Annabelle Bridgforth ’22 is a disciplined, hardworking student who has excelled in the classroom while building relationships through sports and songwriting.
Hutchison Now highlights recent graduates early in their careers who embody how a Hutchison education can lead anywhere you can imagine. We spoke with Katie Hussey ’16, chief of staff for Goldman Sachs’ two global leaders of Consumer and Wealth Management.