Key Middle School, January 5-16, 2026

Key Middle School and Key Center students, staff, and families share what service means to them

Students explore the Spanish-language panel focused on the theme of connection

An exhibit about the student leaders of a soccer league and their impact on the community

Students contribute messages for the wall of hearts, sharing what service means to them

Visitors recognized friends, family members, and neighbors in the photos

Families, including younger siblings, contributed to the museum during Key Middle School’s Curriculum Night

Librarian Monisha Blair created a two-week schedule to ensure all Key Middle School students were able to visit the museum

The museum displays were arranged along the walls, and the interactives and objects were showcased on the tables

Each six-foot panel will focus on a different theme: joy, connection, growth, identity and culture, and creativity.

From January 5–16, 2026, the Lewis Leadership Program Community Museum of Service traveled to Key Middle School for a special two-week visit. The museum was set up in the school library and hosted by librarian Monisha Blair. She worked closely with staff to create a schedule so that every student at Key Middle School could visit during the school day. Ms. Blair showcased relevant, inspiring library books as part of the museum and created a tool to help students share personal connections to the concept of service. She gathered data about the problems Key Middle School students believe matter most in their community, and produced an infographic that will be added to the museum.

Key students were excited to see their cousins, siblings, neighbors, and friends from Lewis High School featured as change-makers in the museum. They enjoyed handling the artifacts, like soccer gloves and a referee uniform from the student-led intramural soccer league, ramen from the school’s food pantry, a bat house that is part of a larger environmental action project, and a knitted chicken inspired by a story from John Lewis’s childhood. Their ideas about service were powerful and insightful.

The writing assignment Ms. Blair prepared asks students who inspires them to create positive change. One of the most common responses from Key Middle School visitors to the museum was “Lewis students.” This is the true purpose of the museum: to lift up local stories of service, showcase the power of young people, and inspire small and big actions to help build a better world.