Christian Service Programme
St. Paul’s High School
2200 Grant Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3P 0P8
T (204) 831-2300
F (204) 831-2340
Raymond Comeault
This program is optional for students in grade 9 and required for students in grades 10 and 11. It educates students to look beyond their own material happiness to the needs of others. It includes, in sequence, an introductory project on a neighborhood agency which helps people in need; a long-term commitment (minimum of 20 hours) to either tutor, coach, assist day care workers, assist parish workers, or help neighborhood seniors; and a year-long focus (minimum of 30 hours) on helping people in need through community institutions, including small-group discussions and reflection papers. Students, parents, and people being served take part in the students’ evaluation.
Benilde Program
St. John’s College High School
2607 Military Road, NW
Washington, DC 20015-1099
T (202) 363-2316
F (202) 686-5162
Doreen C. Engel
This program offers students with learning differences the opportunity to succeed in a college preparatory high school. Using the results of a detailed psycho-educational evaluation, students receive instruction in specific study skills designed to help them succeed in the regular classroom. The program also covers recent brain research, learning theory, and the complex reasons why some pupils find school difficult. Students are enrolled in regular courses, not isolated from their peers. Students have the option of taking honors courses, if qualified.
Social Justice Program
Archbishop Carroll High School
4300 Harewood Road, NE
Washington, DC 20017
T (202) 529-0900
F (202) 529-5989
Arrie Horton
Every junior at this inner-city school takes a full year course called Social Justice. In the first semester, the basic themes of Catholic social teaching are applied to specific issues in real life. The following method is applied: personalize the issue, teach the sociological implications, relate the Bible and Catholic social teachings, and challenge students to take a moral stand and act. Every junior also serves at a soup kitchen and performs 30 hours of required service. Every student participates in after-school service activities and service learning projects.
HELP (Hope Everyday for the Lord’s Planet)
Nativity School
5200 Johnson Street
Hollywood, FL 33021
T (954) 987-3300 x 221
F (954) 987-3044
Mrs. Elena Ortiz, Principal
Four major activities are implemented throughout the school year to provide students with an awareness of the needs in the community and to develop a sense of responsibility to address those needs. In Mother Teresa Week, items are collected for the poor. In Adopt-A-Family, each class adopts a needy family to assist during the year. In Pennies from Heaven, students collect pennies to present to the Respect Life Organization at a special mass. In Environmental Awareness, students prepare animal paintings which are displayed on t-shirts. Shirts are sold and the money is given to an environmental cause.
Pastoral Care and Sexual Identity: Safe Schools for All Students
Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis and selected secondary schools
328 Kellogg Boulevard W.
St. Paul, MN 55102
T (651) 291-4496
F (651) 290-1628
Jane Hilger
This initiative of the secondary schools of the archdiocese provides safe schools, especially for students with sexual identity issues. Staff members receive special training in how to support students and how to introduce the topic into parts of the curriculum. Program goals include presenting the full and accurate teaching of the Catholic church on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender issues; providing a respectful and faithful position, uniting the archdiocese, through the archbishop, the Catholic education and formation ministries, and the schools; and responding to expressed needs for care for students and staff in Catholic secondary schools of the archdiocese who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender and to their families, or to those struggling with sexual identity issues.
Character/Peace Education
Catholic Central High School
625 Seventh Avenue
Troy, NY 12182
T (518) 235-7100
F (518) 237-1796
Sr. Katherine Arseneau, CSJ, Principal
The program began as a deliberate response to the need for character development in young people. Although the original goal was to build up the school community by promoting a clear-cut and attainable system of gospel-based virtues, the program grew into a school-wide emphasis to contribute to the building of a just and peaceful society. It centers on the prerequisite disposition for the practice of virtue (peace of heart) and the result of the practice of virtue (peace among people). The Holy Father’s “Plea for Peace in 2000” and the United Nation’s designation of 2000 as the “International Year of Peace” inspired the adoption of a school theme for the year (Blessed Are the Peacemakers…the Bridge Builders). A School of Character Council advances this theme by planning special and regular activities.
Xaverian Leadership Institute
Xaverian Brothers High School
800 Clapboardtree Street
Westwood, MA 02090
T (781) 326-6392 x 640
F (781) 320-0458
Edward Hardiman, Director of Campus Ministries
This five-day servant leadership retreat designed for seniors takes place during the month of August. Grounded in the Catholic tradition and rooted in the mission statement of the Xaverian Brothers’ sponsored schools, students are empowered to serve others as they discover their God-given gifts and talents.
Oxfam American Christian Service Program
Academy of the Holy Cross
4920 Strathmore Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895
T (301) 929-6451
F (301) 929-6440
Eileen Monahan
The hunger banquet comes out of the tradition of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and is integral to the Academy’s mission of educating women who responsibly act for justice. Oxfam is an international relief and social justice educational agency. In interactive classrooms, in hunger-related Christian service learning experiences, through personal commitment and participation in the liturgy/hunger banquet itself, as well as in follow-up curricular and co-curricular activities and the involvement of parents and alumnae, students and staff grow to understand the magnitude of hunger-related social justice issues.
Bearing Witness: Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, and Contemporary Issues
Anti-Defamation League
Suite 1020
1100 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
T (202) 452-8310
F (202) 296-2371
This annual seminar is sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League in conjunction with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with support from NCEA, the Archdiocese of Washington, and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. It brings together teachers from Catholic schools in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Teachers learn about the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and how to address, through the Catholic school curriculum, issues of diversity, prejudice, and bigotry in contemporary society.
Jubilee Justice in the Diocese of Wichita
Diocese of Wichita
424 N. Broadway
Wichita, KS 67202
T (316) 269-3950
F (316) 269-2486
Bob Voboril, Superintendent
This is a diocesan effort that includes in-servicing all professional educators about the social justice principles, a different social justice theme featured in the diocesan newspaper each month, mission projects, an intensive review of employment compensation practices, and a new effort to enhance center-city schools. Six teachers authored monographs explaining how to incorporate virtues into the curriculum. Four mission projects to rebuild the church in Eastern Europe were sponsored. Celebrations were enlivened by liturgy and the fine arts, including an original play and study guide.
St. Monica Schools Partnership
St. Monica School
841 Genesee Street
Rochester, NY 14611
T (716) 235-4140
F (716) 235-4144
Sr. Dianne Crowley, SSJ
In this pre-K through grade 6 inner-city school, 88 percent of students live at or below poverty level. Many come from a single-parent home or are being raised by grandparents. Ninety-eight percent of the student population is African-American and 98 percent is non-Catholic. Three partnerships have been established to center on the social teachings of the church: a parent contract supports and educates parents as primary models; the Progressive Neighborhood Youth Credit Union Program helps students and families develop solid financial habits; and Ameri-Corp and B.E.S.T. partnerships encourage, train, direct, and support people who are enhancing their educational opportunities and moving out of the clutches of poverty.
Teaching Resources on Sweatshops and Child Labor
Archdiocese of Newark/Dept. of Human Concerns
171 Clifton Avenue
Newark, NJ 07104-0500
T (973) 497-4341
F (973) 497-4317
Contacts: Kay Furlani, Sr. Dominica Rocchio
This initiative is a two-step approach to assuring that Catholic school uniforms in the archdiocese are not made in sweatshops or by child labor. A task force formed a partnership between the church, government, and labor. Information was gathered and all manufacturers were checked for compliance with fair labor, safety, and health regulations. Then “Teaching Resources on Sweatshops and Child Labor,” consisting of printed materials and a video, were developed and distributed to all schools.
Sharing the Way: Catholic Social Teaching in Word and Song
Holyoke Catholic High School A Capella Singers
Holyoke, MA 01040
T (413) 533-0347
F (413) 535-1987
Joseph Toritto
One of the many goals is to expose students, and adult audiences, to the church’s rich heritage of social justice. This is accomplished by engaging in sacred a cappella music, from energizing South African folk songs, to Taize chants, to Gospel music, to traditional sacred music. Students learn to sing in three- and four-part harmony songs of justice, freedom, and hope woven around reflections and excerpts from Catholic social teaching. A method has been developed that does not require the director to be a trained musician.
Evangelization of the School Community
St. Pius X School
7734 Robin Rest
San Antonio, TX 78209
T (210) 824-6431
F (210) 824-7454
Celeste M. Bonsignore, Principal
After a two-year discernment process, the school decided that spiritual formation will be the first priority and academic excellence will be the second priority. The principal, as spiritual leader of the school community, invites extensive parent involvement and staff participation in promoting gospel values, the teachings of the church, social justice awareness, service, and worship as the priorities for the schools.
Visions & Values Curriculum
Boston College High School
150 Morrisey Boulevard
Dorchester, MA 02125-3391
T (617) 436-3900
F (617) 282-7503
Geraldine Kasmouski
In response to the renewal of Jesuit high schools, as articulated in the document “Profile of the Graduate of a Jesuit High School at Graduation,” the English department at this school revised its curriculum for senior year. Through the study of literature and the focus of writing assignments, students are formed according to the goal of Jesuit education: to become men and women for others. The course complements the senior religion course on the social teachings of the church and prepares students for the month-long service requirement that completes the education experience.
2000 SPICE Sponsors
We are grateful to the following sponsors for making SPICE possible.
F.A.C.T.S. Management Co.
The Jesuit Community
The Jesuit Institute
Mutual of America
Our Sunday Visitor
Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, Inc.
RISO, Inc.
William H. Sadlier, Inc.
SC Ministry Foundation
Silver Burdette Ginn
SMART Tuition Management Services
National Catholic Educational Association
