Practicing practical Christianity. Putting beliefs into action. Giving back to the community. Gifting to areas of need. The Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Day at Monterey Bay Academy has become an annual tradition.

Divided into teams and dispersed to 12 locations, the students and staff served in Santa Cruz, Capitola, Scotts Valley, La Selva Beach, Seaside and Watsonville. Some projects required more than 50 students while others needed just a few.

On Sept. 14, the entire student body and staff ventured out into local towns performing a variety of tasks. From trimming trees in Watsonville city parks and painting a pier in Santa Cruz to visiting area shut-ins, the work ethic of the academy students did not go unnoticed by the different supervisors from the community.

“This is a great group of kids,” says Charlie Clancy, a Santa Cruz County work crew supervisor who oversaw the San Lorenzo River clean-up. “They did a great job for us, a very thorough job, and have made the community a more pleasant place to live.”

“We worked really hard,” said Raymond Hong, a freshman from San Francisco. “It was fun though, because the people we met were really appreciative of our efforts.”

Not every job involved cleaning up a park or painting over graffiti. Several students had the chance to work with people one-on-one. “My job was working at VHM Christian School in Santa Cruz,” said Nina Yrdobaloza, a senior from Yorba Linda, Calif. “We fixed up their play area and spent time helping the students with their classes. I thought that we’d all be pulling weeds all day long, but it was cool to see that there’s lots of different ways to serve others. Working with little kids was my favorite part of the day.”

Giving students a chance to see the benefits of service is what RAK Day is all about, according to campus pastor and event coordinator Sam Kaligithi. “It is easy for us to be self-centered," he said. "But RAK Day gives us a chance to get out of our comfort zones and become centered on others. We’re training our students to become Christ’s disciples.”

For more information about Monterey Bay Academy, please contact Jason Mustard at 831-728-1481, ext. 1221, or by e-mail at info@montereybayacademy.org.