Are you living up to the St. Mary’s mission statement?
April 18, 2011Our students sure are.
It seems every time I turn around, there is some kind of different service project going on around school. So I decided to do a little digging and see exactly what was really going on.
The mission statement at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Fredericksburg is “To inspire a lifelong love of God and service to neighbor” and it seems every student is involved in some kind of service project (most likely many) during the course of the school year to help accomplish this. Inspired by teachers, parents, local needs, world events and liturgical seasons, students learn the value of raising money and donating items and time to help others in need. It’s wonderful!
In early November, as the school celebrates All Saint’s Day, Lacey Vorauer’s 3K students make donations and sacrifice some of their things for the poor and needy—just like the saints did. They talk about St. Vincent de Paul and even walk all of the donated items to the St. Vincent de Paul box as a class. How cool is that! “I think it’s a wonderful service project and a great way for the younger kids to physically give to the poor and try to live our lives as the Saints did by thinking of others and giving of ourselves.” Says Lacey Vorauer.
Carol Reyes’ 4K class has adopted a student from Columbia. “We adopted Jhon three years ago when he was just 4, and I even have former students asking me how he is doing!” The class conducts sucker, candy cane and pixie stick sales throughout the year to provide funds for his school supplies and clothing. A picture of Jhon is posted in the classroom and the children really love that connection.
The epitome of service are our men and women in the military. In order to honor and thank them, the 1st grade and 6th grade classes collected holy cards and spiritual material, and crafted handmade rosaries to send to American troops. Debbie Klein’s first graders also wrote Easter letters to former St. Mary’s student, PFC Danny Flores.
7th grade students, along with Religion teacher Sandra Weinheimer, visit with nursing home resident Rita Sharnhorst.
Every year Sandra Weinheimer escorts her religion classes to local nursing homes twice a semester. What a gift for both generations! “These visits help the students learn to respect the elderly and have compassion for them. It teaches them that giving doesn’t always have to be about money or things.” Says Weinheimer. On the last set of visits, they even conduct living history interviews. First graders also brightened the day of nursing home residents by making tray ornaments for Christmas and Easter.
The second grade class raised an amazing $635 by selling pencils in their pencil machine they placed in the library. (And if anyone has been in the library with their child, you understand how hard it is to get out of there with out trying that machine out.) Funds raised are going to the Living Well College. The class also raised money to improve science resources available to their own teachers.
The annual 8th Grade Service Project is usually a largest single school effort that continues throughout the year. This year’s 8th Grade Service Project benefited Coy Akin. (Which I’m sure everyone reading this would know that by now.) Coy Akin is the son of 22-year St. Mary’s Kindergarten teacher, Debbie Akin. Money collected was donated to the Coy Akin family to help offset costs of a kidney transplant that took place in early January. Many fundraising events were held to aide the endeavor including Coins-for-Coy jars in the cafeteria and a more-than-memorable student vs. faculty volleyball game.
Despite all these school-generated service projects, the students still manage to participate in other parish wide service events including the Catholic Relief Rice Bowl Campaign, donating baby items for Project Gabriel, the Annual Holiday Food Drive and others.
But St. Mary’s service projects don’t stop there. St. Mary’s students and families even reached out to a fellow San Antonio Archdiocese student when his house was destroyed by fire. Funds were collected shortly after the tragedy.
“The students really get into the giving nature of these projects. It’s amazing to see the students learning this valuable and genuine character trait. And honestly, we don’t really realize how much they do until we see it all together like this. I’m very proud. And parents and the community should be, too. ” Says Billy Pahl, St. Mary’s principal.
One thing is for sure, we can learn from our children about service to others as much as they can learn from us. I could write for a whole week on all the giving acts I have witnessed since being a part of St. Mary’s. Academic excellence and athletic prowess are things to be proud of, but inspiring a lifelong love of God and service to neighbor is what people will truly be remembered for.
What have you witnessed? Did I leave some good things out? Let us know.
By Trish Rawls
School Council Member
