Community JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS
How We Give Back To The
By: Jake Drysdale ‘16 and John Russell ‘16 Are you a community service participant? Priory students are! There are many opportunities to give to the community. Clubs like Random Acts of Kindness and Community Service Clubs are an example, and to prove this, we decided to interview Random Acts of Kindness and Community Service Club participants to tell us about their endeavors.
“Random acts of kindness help us to incorporate the Gospel message of love in everything we do by committing ourselves more earnestly and sincerely to those around us,” he mentioned. “The Priory Junior School Motto is ‘See Christ, Be Christ,’ and this is what we aim to live.” Brother Dunstan also remarked that “we can show Christ our love for him by loving our neighbor. One does not always know what another might be going through, and sometimes all it takes is a little random act of kindness to remind that person of God’s love and to brighten up his day. Random acts of kindness are given freely from the love we have received freely from Christ and seek nothing in return.” “I really enjoy being in the club,” said Adam Ezzelgot, a From I student we interviewed. “We all get to help other people, and it really makes us feel good.” We also interviewed Form II student Bobby Onder, who said, “It feels good because we’re helping the school community.” And the club definitely proves it. Random Acts of Kindness is setting up a food drive for soldiers in Afghanistan and has made packets of assorted candy for Junior School teachers. Plus, they baked muffins and made 300 cookies as well as writing monikers to invite people to the recent Open House.
“We began the Random Acts of Kindness Club to help teach those involved what it means to be disciples of Christ,” said Brother Dunstan, who moderates the club with the equally-as-helpful Ms. Riefle. “We can make a difference in lives of others by performing little acts with great love every day.”
Random Acts of Kindness and Community Service clubs inspire all different types of helpfulness and caring. These people have given back to the community in numerous ways. How have you?
By: Bobby Donnelly ‘15
to the hungry. The club also participates in other projects, such as a Special Olympics Bocce Ball tournament and neighborhood beautification.
At Priory, many people are involved in community service. Whether it is in the Community Service Club, or just helping out in general, Priory students are devoted to the community. In an interview with the Community Service Club and its moderator, Mr. Kyle Oberle, the true purpose and devotion of the club really showed. They are constantly pitching [service] ideas to both their peers and Mr. Oberle. With all of the priorities of homework, chores, and studying, you really do wonder why someone would volunteer their own time to give back to the community When asked this exact question, Form III student Michael Clark responded, “I enjoy helping others, and [volunteering is] a good outlet for me to do that. For me, anyone who is better off than someone else has an obligation to help that person.” Throughout the year, the Community Service Club visits the Saint Augustine Soup Kitchen on the last Tuesday of every month, to serve food
The club has also hosted some service trips outside St. Louis. While they cost more money, all members of the club agree that they are helpful to the community in a global sense, and in the words of the club members, “They’re fun – do them!” Mr. Oberle, recalled an experience he had while on a service trip in his sophomore year at Priory. “We did a winter service trip to Chile. We helped build and install a playground. It was really nice seeing [the people’s] reactions!”
“I enjoy helping others...”
Priory students and faculty are committed to helping others. As Michael Clark stated, we do have an obligation to help someone who is not as well off as we are. With that in mind, the Priory community will continue to help on a local and global scale. [priory] magazine
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