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Page 1 of 7 The Network of Sacred Heart Schools sponsored 11 Summer Service Projects. Click through the table of contents to the right to view some pictures & articles on these projects: Sunshine's Clown Alley: June 13 - 24, Omaha, NE This service project offered an opportunity to brighten the lives of people who need smiles. 9th – 11th grade students learned to be clowns by working with professional clowns, jugglers, magicians, balloon artists and storytellers. As they discovered how to heal through the power of laughter, they brightened the lives of people in shelters, nursing homes, critical care hospitals, camps for homeless children and in programs for children with disabilities. This project stretched the students' talents and hearts.
Juvenile Justice: June 13 - 22, Chicago, ILThe Juvenile Justice Project will provide 9th – 11th grade female students a perspective of the experience of a teenager in our nation’s criminal justice system. In an urban setting and an ethnically diverse population, the students considered the context in which many of our nation’s teen-agers live. Students looked at different support structures that work to help young people who are at risk for many different reasons (prevention programs, alternative high schools etc). Students learned about how the State of Illinois makes decisions about the prosecution of juvenile offenders as well as particular case studies. Students visited Cook County Jail, adult and juvenile court, Northwestern University’s Children and Family Justice Center, a peer jury program in the Chicago Public School system. They also met with advocates for juvenile justice, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, juvenile probation officers, social workers, educators, teenagers who have been in the justice system, college students researching juvenile justice, and others who have a role in the justice system, in the communities, and in the lives of young people.
Helping with Heads & Hearts: July 9 - 16, Greenwich, CTCurrent 10th- 12th grade students (Coed) Spent a week bringing about change in the community of Bridgeport, CT through building homes along side their future owners for Habitat for Humanity. Students also built community by living a simple life and sharing the responsibilities of taking care of one another. Evenings were spent reflecting on and discussing daily experiences.
Lending a Hand: July 10 - 17 Participants (10th and 11th grade female students) in “Lending a Hand” spent their mornings tutoring at risk elementary age children at a Seattle Public School. Afternoons were spent at a variety of social service agencies including shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, thrift stores, etc. Living simply in community, students stayed at Forest Ridge School; and had the opportunity to share reflections about their experience through the building of a website. Institute for Social and Environmental Awareness: July 24 - 30 Students were invited to join the Institute for Social and Environmental Awareness, a new coed 1 week overnight program for those entering junior or senior year.
The description of this project as presented to students follows:
Consider being part of the Sprout Creek Farm community of learners. Join us as we are schooled by all the cows and sheep, pigs, and goats, bugs and plants, the land, the trees, the creek and pond, and, of course, one another. ISEA will offer you the chance to step back from your complicated, fast-paced lives and take time to develop a better understanding of yourself and others, and your connection to the local and global community. Days will be filled with diverse experiences that will give you new tools to critically examine our rapidly changing world. Living on the farm, where the simplest needs are the day’s challenges, creates a broad perspective for greater social and environmental awareness. A day at Sprout Creek is like no other. You will find that working in a community that includes so many different kinds of animals in a setting with rolling pastures, lush gardens, and barns full of hay, fosters deep spiritual reflection. Sharing the responsibilities for the animals with other students, tending the garden, and cooking meals together from the fruits of your labors build a strong sense of community. In this supportive and inspiring setting, conversations that range from global hunger to the tiniest bug in our soil will offer you intellectual challenges to last a lifetime…We invite you to this unusual educational experience. Seattle International: July 30 - August 7 This service project offered 9th - 11th grade femail students(from the U.S. and Japan) the opportunity to experience first hand the international nature of Schools of the Sacred Heart while living and working in community, serving the elderly, and marginalized of many nationalities in the greater Seattle area. Students were open to learning about another culture and had an appreciation for diversity. Reflection was a key element of this project. Students were involved with many agencies in the area and served the homeless and marginalized. They discussed how their culture respects and serves the needs of the elderly, poor, and marginalized populations. One of the riches of this program is the cultural diversity that is reflected upon, as well as experienced.
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