New London — Students at the Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication in New London filled the gym Friday morning for their monthly community meeting, and the interspersion of song, dance and the "bucket brigade" percussion ensemble made it clear that the meeting was a celebration of student learning.  

The gathering was a component of expeditionary learning also known as EL Education, in which students connect classroom work with the community and have fun doing it.

ISAAC principal David Howes, who also taught at the school for 12 years, said the school emphasizes good work and character through student engagement, and the monthly student-led meeting is a way to celebrate student progress in those areas.

"We really emphasize community and students doing learning that has an impact and a purpose beyond the classroom," he said. "Our mission statement is that our students learn through arts and communication to be courageous citizens and difference-makers."

ISAAC has been part of the EL Education network of schools for four years.

Out of 152 schools in the network, only four are in Connecticut, and ISAAC is the only one outside of Hartford.

Howes said the network places a heavy emphasis on professional development, and teacher education is tied directly with school goals, such as strengthening partnerships in the family and community and building strong writing skills in all disciplines.

The community aspect of EL Education program was highlighted at Friday's community meeting.

Eighth-grade language arts teacher Nancy Rodgers and art teacher Chris Blackshaw gave presentations on the January community service project.

As part of a unit on the Syrian refugee crisis, students in Blackshaw's eighth-grade exploratory art class drew portraits of refugees from pictures they found online.

In order to put a real face to the unit, they also went to the Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services center in New Haven, also known as IRIS, to talk to some of the refugees there.

"They took the challenge by choice," Blackshaw said during her presentation.

Several of the students said they did not know what to expect when they went to IRIS to interview the refugees. Jessica Schafer, an eighth grader from Mystic, said she was a little nervous on the trip to IRIS.

"I knew these people had been encountering other people that had been very mean and not nice to them," she said. "I wasn't sure how they would be responding to strangers that were just walking into the building and asking them questions about where they came from."

The girls found that the refugees were most in need of linens and towels when they first come to the United States, and they created a donation drive at the school.

The school collected more than 100 blankets, sheet sets and towels to donate to IRIS.

Lisa Bickford, early education coordinator at IRIS who attended Friday's meeting to accept the donations, said sometimes it is difficult to know what to ask a refugee, but the girls were very respectful in their questions.

"I am completely speechless," she said to the girls. "You guys are remarkable. We have people who do things for IRIS all the time, but this by far exceeds anything I've ever seen because of the heart that went into it."

Lourdes Bumgardner, an eighth grader from Groton, said she was glad the group was able to bring the project back to the school to teach other students about the refugee experience.

"I think it's really important that there's more people understanding what refugees are, and I don't think the students really knew what they were until we told them," she said. "I think that as we taught them, they were able to understand."

Instructional coach Michael Carbone, who helped facilitate the project, said it was good for the students to be able to see the impact they had on the community with their project.

"We want our kids to see that it doesn't matter what home you live in or what language you speak, you can have an impact on your local community," he said.

a.hutchinson@theday.com

Twitter: @ahutch411