HAWKLETS SERVE COMMUNITY DURING SCHOOL YEAR

During summer months, Rockhurst High School students are required to fulfill service hours in the community. Once the school year begins and academics, co-curriculars, and other commitments resume, Hawklets still take time to assist those in need.

From the first day on campus as freshmen, students are taught that community service is an important part of the Rockhurst experience. They are sent to various locations throughout the city in the first of four Freshmen Days for Others throughout the year. The Class of 2027 embarked on these special days on August 16, October 12, February 27, and March 20. Each day also included group and individual reflections on their experiences.

Athletic teams also include service as an integral part of their programs. On September 24, several months from their opening day, members of the baseball team volunteered at the of men and women after the county has exhausted all efforts to find family and loved ones. Eight students lived out this ministry on May 4 as they carried the cremains of 32 people, one-by-one, to their final resting place as Fr. Gary Menard, SJ, offered Holy Water to each. Since its inception at Rockhurst, the Stt. Joseph of Arimathea Society has helped lay to rest more than 200 people.

Continuing the Rockhurst tradition for more than 50 years, each member of the senior class spent the first two and a half weeks of his final semester on a Senior Service Project. Each Hawklet gave his time, talent and treasure at one of 37 local agencies, including hospitals, elementary and pre=schools, senior living centers, childcare centers, food pantries, and more. In addition, sixty-two seniors opted to attend one of two week-long immersion trips in Guatemala, while working with Habitat for Humanity in Kansas City during the other week.

Kansas State School For the Blind’s run/ walk fundraiser. The State Champion swim & dive team participated in its annual Christmas on October 8, with the AquaHawk athletes, coaches, and many parents painting houses and landscaping yards for those unable to do so themselves. The wrestling team sacrificed a day of practice on January 11 to work at Harvesters food bank.

Rockhurst introduced a new program in the fall, the Junior Leadership Community Days. It’s a two-day experience for all members of the junior class, wherein one day is spent at the Tucker Leadership Lab promoting relationship-building among classmates, and the other is spent visiting with residents of one of five nursing homes around the city.

The St. Joseph of Arimathea Society was founded at Rockhurst in 2015. It is a student group that offers to serve as pallbearers for the unclaimed cremains

As this issue of the Rock News went to press, Fr. Gary Menard, SJ, was missioned to continue his service to the Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus' Provincial, Very Rev. Tom Greene, SJ, by accepting a position as Rector for Regis Jesuit High School in Denver.

This marks a homecoming of sorts for Fr. Menard, who served as a Scholastic at Regis Jesuit High School in the early1990s, and he also served many years in Denver, at Arrupe Jesuit, the Cristo Rey School of Denver. Fr. Menard, SJ completed his 10th total year of service to the Rockhurst High School community, completing four years in this most recent assignment.

His contributions to Rockhurst have been tremendous. Fr. Menard, SJ serves on the Board of Members and Board of Trustees for Rockhurst High School. Additionally, working alongside Rich Sullivan, he has helped to lead the spiritual formation of our faculty and staff in the Ignatian tradition, both leading individuals in the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of

Loyola, and helping our newest faculty and staff in their orientation to our Jesuit mission. Fr. Menard has also taught in our Mathematics department, and he has been an integral teacher and mentor in the Hurtado Scholars program. During the pandemic, Fr. Menard was a key leader to help organize and guide the school's administration in successfully navigating the care of our young men.

We pray in gratitude for Fr. Menard and for his new mission to serve the Society of Jesus.