Grade 9
Grade 9 students spend the year becoming oriented to the Social Action program and what it means to serve via the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart Education. This orientation year is guided largely by our Grade 12 Social Action Leaders. Throughout the year, Grade 9 students participate in service on and off campus. They may volunteer at a food bank, do a park clean up or visit a school for students with special needs. They also experience in-house service opportunities and dedicated education from representatives from social justice organizations. For example, we’ve made fleece blankets, snack packs, and Thanksgiving bags in response to people in crisis across the globe and hosted people from the Anti-Defamation League to talk about anti-Semitism. After our activities, we reflect on questions like, what does holding a drive or community organizing look like? What’s the call to action? The goal is to make sure that they’re making connections through the day’s activities. With the leadership of the Social Action Leaders, they’ve begun to connect what they did in previous weeks as well.
Grade 10
Grade 10 students visit a different site each week on a rotation. The purpose is to expose them to different service opportunities over the course of the year, like food banks, clothing centers, shelters, and deep educational opportunities like visits to the Holocaust Museum. The goal is for students to gain a better understanding of the needs of our wider community and get a sense of sites that align best with their gifts and talents for Grades 11 and 12.
Grades 11 & 12
The Third and Fourth Academics can rank their choices for the upcoming year on where they will be placed. They spend the whole year at the same site in an effort to build deeper relationships with our community partners. Additionally, these students see the challenges the sites face and the nature of non-profit engagement. As a result, the students develop a sense of purpose and a personal connection with the missions of these organizations.