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.
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.
Hutchison girls are taking over the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art for a day! And the Native Voices, 1950s to Now: Art for a New Understanding, will be in excellent hands for this weekend’s Teen Takeover.
You could say the students in John Reynolds’ debate class are serious about working out. Working out mentally, that is. Reynolds calls it “stretching their brains.” Dakota Shelton '21 calls it “mental strength.”
Thinking globally is something we encourage our girls to do throughout their educational journeys. In middle school, thinking globally translates to the annual Model United Nations, a citywide event where students engage in civil discourse and open discussion of international issues through role play.
She was among the 27 high school girls honored this week by the Memphis Business Journal (MBJ) for their exemplary academic and extracurricular achievements and community involvement.
At first, Caroline Couch ’20 wasn’t sure what this past summer was going to look like. Some of the programs she had been interested in, hadn’t panned out. Then, suddenly in May, Caroline’s summer schedule got exponentially busier.
During her senior year at Hutchison, Brittany Trimble ’08 started charting her course. She emailed a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and said something along the lines of: “I hear you’re a fighter pilot, and I would like to be one. Please help me.”
Trimble admitted her note was a bit more formal than that. But that was the gist.
In her senior speech, Caitlin Robinson ’19 encouraged her classmates to be courageous by saying “We should stand up for what we believe in, even though we may face adversity.” Robinson believes in equality, and it shows in the work she does in the Memphis and Hutchison communities.
Samantha Tancredi ’18 spent her summer participating in a Hutchison Leads Fellowship that took her all over the world. From Geneva, Switzerland, to Seville, Spain, and Washington, D.C., Samantha spent her time researching the role of law in the business, political, and cultural worlds.
"I believe Hutchison has prepared me so well for any college experience, academically. Through my participation in the Science Research Fellows program, I have also discovered the areas of STEM that truly interest me beyond the classroom." - Monica Fleck '18
Emily Faber ’15 is currently a junior at Rhodes College and serves as the executive director of The Bridge, a student-run newspaper that benefits the homeless.
“I have to thank my eighth grade advisors for believing in me and showing me that there isn’t just one style of leadership. Anywhere else, a girl like me could have been lost in the background, but because of their help, I learned that a listener can be a leader and that I have a voice. I never would be the student I am today if it weren’t for the faculty.” - Anna Murrey '18
Hutchison is proud to announce that senior Owen Hergenrader has been named a finalist for the Wells Scholars Program at Indiana University Bloomington and a semifinalist for the Coca-Cola scholarship.
How do Hutchison upper school girls spend their summers? Senior Heather Guglietti spent hers exploring urban planning with a Hutchison Serves fellowship!
Girls like Porter Johnson excel through our Hutchison Leads program. Read about how Porter started her own year-long independent study project on development in Memphis after a well-established background in volunteering throughout the community as a Rogers Scholar.
Hutchison senior Sophie Merchant ’17 has been named a semifinalist in the 2017 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Sophie is one of 722 semifinalists selected from nearly 5,100 candidates. She is one of only three Memphis students to be named a semifinalist. Final scholars will be named later this month.