February 5, 2010 Southwest News-Herald - City
Offer Hands Of Help At Mother McAuley
To celebrate Catholic Schools Week, students at Mother McAuley High School created “Hands of Service,” to remind people of their faith and how people can touch the lives of others.
According to Jamie Spiva, Director of Development at McAuley, the Hands of Service demonstrated to the community the number of individuals and organizations that were touched by student service work.
Each student participated in a week-long reflection culminating with the creation of a paper hand representing a service project.
A paper hand chain was then displayed along the Theology Wing showing the many individuals and organizations helped by McAuley students.
During this service project, several students had the opportunity to work in local organizations, but some also traveled to work out of the state.
Freshman Kortne Muhammad worked with the breast cancer walk last fall.
“It was a great experience because I met a lot of cancer survivors and people who have cancer,” said Muhammad. “Breast cancer runs in my family, so it felt good to do that and for the people that have died from it in my family.”
Junior BrieAnn Droz, a resident of Mount Greenwood, worked at a competition for grammar school cheerleaders and taught them the basic skills of cheerleading.
“I felt privileged because these little girls looked up to me as a role model,” said Drozd. “I now plan to do it more often and donate my time to the people that enjoy it.”
Freshman Empress Sears, from Englewood, was one of the few students who traveled out of state. Sears traveled to Jackson, Mo., with her church.
“The (church) camp does community service,” said Sears. “The neighborhood we visited was full of litter, so we planted a tree there and picked up litter.
“I hope that the people will see what we did and continue to take care of their neighborhoods.”
Junior Kelly Patton, from Orland Park, was part of Habitat for Humanity when she was a sophomore.
“We went to help and build homes,” said Patton. “It was really rewarding seeing everyone’s face afterward.”
But Patton hopes to see others partaking in Habitat for Humanity.
“I want to speak at St. Michael’s Church and encourage others to go,” said Patton.
Freshman Christina Sperando traveled to Colorado to help re-build homes as well.
“I helped kids that did not have homes, re-build homes, build fences and provide food for them,” said Sperando. “You think it is not a big deal, but when you see what they have and how it improved, the people were so much happier.”
Along with the Hands of Service project, the students constructed a “Be-leaf Tree.”
Each student wrote on a leaf something that they believe, ranging from “God” and “dreams” to simply “myself.”
The tree is located in a main, visible stairwell and is nearly two stories tall.
Mother McAuley High School is at 3737 W. 99th St.
For more information on the Catholic Schools Week activities, contact Susan Barnett by phoning (773) 881-6558 or by e-mailing sbarnett@mothermcauley.org.
According to Jamie Spiva, Director of Development at McAuley, the Hands of Service demonstrated to the community the number of individuals and organizations that were touched by student service work.
Each student participated in a week-long reflection culminating with the creation of a paper hand representing a service project.
A paper hand chain was then displayed along the Theology Wing showing the many individuals and organizations helped by McAuley students.
During this service project, several students had the opportunity to work in local organizations, but some also traveled to work out of the state.
Freshman Kortne Muhammad worked with the breast cancer walk last fall.
“It was a great experience because I met a lot of cancer survivors and people who have cancer,” said Muhammad. “Breast cancer runs in my family, so it felt good to do that and for the people that have died from it in my family.”
Junior BrieAnn Droz, a resident of Mount Greenwood, worked at a competition for grammar school cheerleaders and taught them the basic skills of cheerleading.
“I felt privileged because these little girls looked up to me as a role model,” said Drozd. “I now plan to do it more often and donate my time to the people that enjoy it.”
Freshman Empress Sears, from Englewood, was one of the few students who traveled out of state. Sears traveled to Jackson, Mo., with her church.
“The (church) camp does community service,” said Sears. “The neighborhood we visited was full of litter, so we planted a tree there and picked up litter.
“I hope that the people will see what we did and continue to take care of their neighborhoods.”
Junior Kelly Patton, from Orland Park, was part of Habitat for Humanity when she was a sophomore.
“We went to help and build homes,” said Patton. “It was really rewarding seeing everyone’s face afterward.”
But Patton hopes to see others partaking in Habitat for Humanity.
“I want to speak at St. Michael’s Church and encourage others to go,” said Patton.
Freshman Christina Sperando traveled to Colorado to help re-build homes as well.
“I helped kids that did not have homes, re-build homes, build fences and provide food for them,” said Sperando. “You think it is not a big deal, but when you see what they have and how it improved, the people were so much happier.”
Along with the Hands of Service project, the students constructed a “Be-leaf Tree.”
Each student wrote on a leaf something that they believe, ranging from “God” and “dreams” to simply “myself.”
The tree is located in a main, visible stairwell and is nearly two stories tall.
Mother McAuley High School is at 3737 W. 99th St.
For more information on the Catholic Schools Week activities, contact Susan Barnett by phoning (773) 881-6558 or by e-mailing sbarnett@mothermcauley.org.