Hastings Catholic Schools
More than 100 students from St. Cecilia High School in Hastings traveled into the surrounding community Nov. 20 to share the love of Christ through service.
Students were accompanied by all high school faculty members and 10 volunteers. To start the day, students were split into groups and assigned work schedules. Service groups spent the school day visiting and lending a hand at 15 homes, two nursing homes, the Good Samaritan Village, Catholic Social Services, two small businesses and all the neighbors surrounding the St. Cecilia campus.
Initial brainstorming for the Community Service Day began four years ago when Sister M. Xavier arrived at St. Cecilia School.
“This has been something we have wanted to do ever since I came to STC,” said Sister M. Xavier, director of campus ministry. “The last few years it was not possible because of all the work our students did in regard to the construction and moving school materials. This year, Father Rowan and Mr. Dunn gave the permission, and we went for it.”
Both Father Cyrus Rowan, chief administrative officer of Hastings Catholic Schools and Sam Dunn, St. Cecilia 6-12 principal are in the first year of their new roles.
In addition to the service day fulfilling the mission of Hastings Catholic Schools – to help students encounter Christ, grow in knowledge and become Christian witnesses – the day also helped teach students, in a hands-on way, about the value of service.
“I think service, done for free, helps students recognize that it is not all about what one gets out of something. We don’t serve because we get something back, we serve because we want to give back, ultimately to God, through loving our neighbor,” said Sister M. Xavier.
“Our world often promotes selfishness and a turning in on ourselves,” she continued. “Anytime we do service, we fight against this temptation. Ultimately, serving and loving others helps us to become more Christlike. It also opens our hearts to receive others more generously.”
In late October, Sister M. Xavier and the team at St. Cecilia reached out to the community to solicit service requests. Flyers were stuffed into bulletins at St. Cecilia and St. Michael churches, promoted online through social media and in emails and through personal outreach. As requests began to come in, the day started taking shape. Service work included raking leaves, fall flowerbed cleanup, putting up Christmas lights and decorations, vacuuming and household chores.
One location where fall yard cleanup was requested was at the home of a family member of retired St. Michael Preschool teacher, Joan Konen.
“It was an awesome opportunity for the kids to be able to offer service and help the community,” Konen said. “My family is so grateful for the manpower to help do fall cleanup that we probably wouldn’t have been able to get done this fall. It meant so much to our family, and it was great to see all the kids.”
Konen taught preschool at St. Michael Elementary for the last 12 of her 40 years in education before retiring last spring. She is a graduate of St. Cecilia herself, and parent of four STC graduates.
Photos courtesy Hastings Catholic Schools
Sister M. Xavier said the overall response was an overwhelming one of gratitude. Some community members were a bit surprised that money was not needed as compensation. She also said it was beautiful to see how those the students served really welcomed them and were impressed by how the students conducted themselves.
Not only was the service meaningful for those on the receiving end, but also for those doing the work.
“I think my favorite part of service day was working with people I don’t usually talk to and getting to know them better,” said Gianna Rodriguez, St. Cecilia sophomore and member of AG2G Disciples. “I also think that service day helps the community and also helps us kids to get more out of our comfort zones and to be more selfless.”
Several groups of students visited a couple of nursing homes in the area to lend a hand. They did jobs like decorating for Christmas, cleaning, moving items and simply sitting with those who might just need a visitor.
“My favorite part of our service day was chatting with an elderly woman at the nursing home after helping her complete the tasks she couldn’t do herself,” said Eliza Borer, STC senior and AG2G (All Glory to God) Disciple. “One day, I could be in her shoes, and I’d be just as grateful as she was to have someone visit me and help me out. Serving others like Jesus did during his time on earth helps us to love and care for others the way He loves and cares for each one of us.”
Students also were busy on the St. Cecilia campus, cleaning the church hall, setting up Good Angel trees, cleaning the school and gyms in preparation for the weekend’s annual chicken noodle dinner and holiday bazaar, and decorating. Throughout the day’s group rotations, students also met in the library to write Christmas letters to nursing home residents, and to veterans and active military members.
Student response to the day was one of appreciation and enthusiasm for the day and the service offered to the community. Students were excited to hear that this type of retreat day is planned to continue on in the future.
“The best part of the service day was getting out of the classroom and helping people with tasks they couldn’t do by themselves,” said senior and AG2G Disciple, Gavin Kuzelka. “Service is important because it plays a part in our faith. God wants us to serve and help others and that’s exactly what we did. The experience was good, and I hope that Saint Cecilia continues to do this annually!”
Students’ spiritual formation is aided not only in school-wide retreat days such as the service day, but also through extracurricular groups like the AG2G Disciples group, for both middle and high schoolers, Teens for Life and LEAP, a smaller group of upperclassmen taking additional time to focus on becoming leaders within the discipleship group. Almost 50% of high school students at St. Cecilia are members of both AG2G Disciples and Teens for Life.
