The Service Curriculum is part of each grade’s Religion class. The projects are designed to address issues of Social Justice.
Each class is assigned one month for its service project. During that month, we will meet approximately 3 times (times to be decided) for developing the service project. There will be a variety of methods used to execute the service project, depending on the project, time of year, age of class, etc. The goal is to increase awareness of others’ needs and actively engage St. Joseph’s students in living their religion.
The 8th grade was visited last fall by Mr. Doug Ely, a retired Army veteran. Mr. Ely spoke to the class about his service, the USO, and veterans in general. On March 22, the class toured the Ohio Veteran’s Home in Sandusky. While there, they directed a game of playing card Bingo with several vets and had lunch at the facility. They learned the history of the home and the some of the stories of the men and women who reside there. It was a very interesting field trip and one we hope to repeat in the future.
7th grade Service: The 7th grade completed its Service project by traveling to Pass-It-On Ministries in Lorain on Thursday, September 27. The class helped sort clothing and worked with some of the clients to collect needed items. The group also donated a lot of items for the center and listened to Theresa, the volunteer coordinator talk about the inception of Pass-It-On and its mission. The students did a wonderful job!
The Kindergarten and 6th grade made 34 stuffed animals for Blessing House, a respite facility in Lorain that serves children from 0-12 years. Mrs. Loos and five 6th graders delivered the animals to Sister Mary Berigan who gave us a tour of the facility. The students enjoyed making the animals and serving the people of our community.
The project was made possible by a grant received from the Lorain County Community Foundation. We would like to thank them for their generosity.
Thanks to Mrs. Lucki, mother of Diego and Alex Rucker for making blankets to go with the animals. They were awesome and her hard work is very appreciated.
The 5th grade performed their Service Project in connection with our own parish’s newly formed Mission Team. The students were introduced to the country of El Salvador by viewing a slide show of an orphanage there. Mrs. Loos paired each student with one of the team members going to El Salvador. They then compiled daily letters/readings and little incidentals such as gum, mints, hand sanitizer, crackers, etc. and put them in a gift bag for their partner. The team spent March 10-17 on their trip and the class prayed daily for them. On March 27, Father Michael and several of the team members visited the class and showed them pictures and talked about their trip. The class likes to think their prayer support helped the team have a successful mission.
In addition to the 5th grade being prayer partners, the 1st grade performed their Service Project by collecting items to be taken to El Salvador by the Mission Team. The students filled suitcases with socks, t-shirts, school supplies, etc. and the team was able to transport the donations to the children in this needy area.
St. Joseph School is proud to continue its 10th year servicing our neighbors at the Catholic Charities Family Center in Lorain. Each Tuesday, 5 students rotated from 6, 7, and 8th grade accompany Mrs. Loos to the center to serve lunch. The students help prepare, serve and clean up the center and with the rotation will be assigned approximately 4 times throughout the school year. This is part of our Religion Service Curriculum and we have found it to be a very rewarding experience for the students.
May Catholic Charities Schedule:
Tuesday, May 7:
Isaiah Champe grade 6
Mason Jarrell grade 6
Rosemary Stipe grade 7
Abby Jones grade 7
Noah Kent grade 7
Tuesday, May 14:
Mrs. Miller and the 8th grade class
NO CATHOLIC CHARITIES May 21 and May 28.
Please remind the students to bring a lunch and a drink.
St. Joseph School is also proud of their service to the Seniors of our Community. Each Monday, three 4th grade students and three 5th grade students accompany one of our parish priests to an area Nursing Home for Mass. The residents of Golden Acres, Elmcroft Assisted Living and Amherst Manor enjoy seeing the students participate with them as we give thanks to God together.
MAY NURSING HOME SCHEDULE
Monday, May 13: Golden Acres
4th grade: 5th grade:
Matthew Mendak Gabrielle Hart
Lexi Hall Regina Wolf
Brianna Gendics Michael Lesiecki
Monday, May 20: Elmcroft Assisted Living
4th grade: 5th grade:
Cole Jones Allie Baker
Gypsy McDougle Aiden Woodyard
Alissa VanDress Hunter Stefanich
These students will be out of the building from approximately 10:15 a.m to 11:15 a.m.