St. John's College High School Annual Report on Mission Activities 2018

Annual Report On

Mission Activities 2018

Our Mission Faithful to the charism of St. John Baptist de La Salle, St. John’s College High School is an independent, Catholic preparatory school whose mission is to provide a quality education to young men and women from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. St. John’s is a community of faith and zeal, which seeks to respond to the needs of youth through Christian education. At the core of the St. John’s community are dedicated Lasallian educators who are committed to the academic, spiritual, cultural and physical development of the students. Rooted in Christian values, the Lasallian experience prepares young men and women for lives dedicated to leadership, achievement and service to the community.

Campus Ministry The Office of Lasallian Mission and Ministry helps students deepen their faith and understanding of the human experience. Within our Christian community, we encourage students to ask thoughtful questions about their faith. Our liturgies, retreats, seminars and service opportunities lead students to the answers they seek and help them make God known to others.

Liturgies As we gather together to worship on Holy Days, at daily Mass, as an entire community and as a class, the Mass imparts the Sacred Mysteries in an approachable way.

stjohnschs stjohnschs Lasallian schools celebrate #foundersday in many ways. This year, Principal Chris Themistos started a new SJC tradition with the Founder’s Day Celebration: a student band, food trucks, a DJ, face painting, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and much more!

Retreats

Freshmen: Our Lasallian Identity Strengthens students’ ties to their peers, families and God.

Sophomores: Prayer

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Deepens students’ faith in themselves and in God’s plan for them.

Juniors: Road to Emmaus Explores relationships, choices and discovering Christ in the everyday.

Seniors: The Kairos Retreat Heightens self-knowledge and spirituality.

Peer Ministry Builds a community focused on ministerial work.

2018 Founder’s Day Celebration

Seminars An expression of our commitment to educating the whole person, the seminar series focuses on human development and relationships, decisionmaking, academics and life skills. Throughout the 16part series, freshmen and

sophomores explore topics ranging in diversity from digital safety to diet and health.

themselves far beyond what is required. Service to others reveals our students’ Godgiven graces and talents and helps them become citizens of the world.

Christian Service Our students must complete 90 hours of Christian service during their four years as Cadets, but many extend

2018 Annual Report on Mission Activities

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A Culture of Service In support of St. John’s mission, the Christian Service Program is designed to bring students, through experience and reflection, to a mature understanding of their personal responsibility to those most in need. The service our students perform reflects the religion curriculum for each grade level.

Freshmen

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

John Baptist de La Salle began his service at home, and our freshmen begin their journey in the same way.

Each 9th-grade student forms an intentional relationship with a member of their immediate family and serves that individual in a meaningful way.

Projects range from tutoring a sibling to helping a parent with a long-neglected home improvement project.

Sophomore students serve their faith communities. Each 10th-grade religion class, as a group, completed 500 hours of service last year.

This number is equivalent to assisting in every elementary school CCD class in four parishes or providing enough ushers and servers for every Mass at two parishes.

For their service, 11thgrade students perform the Corporal Works of Mercy.

Each junior religion class, as a group, completed 1,000 hours of service last year. This is equivalent to 25 weeks as a full-time employee at a shelter, soup kitchen or nursing facility.

Seniors are challenged to act on their adult faith, serving those who can benefit most from their personal gifts.

Over the course of their four years, each senior religion class, as a group, performs 2,250 hours of service. This is equivalent to 56 weeks of fulltime service to those in need.

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25,640

6,690

CURRICULAR SERVICE HOURS COMPLETED

ADDITIONAL HOURS COMPLETED

Lasallian Education Must Continually A Challenge Itself to Be Creative While Remaining Faithful to Its Origins

Every seven years, the District of Eastern North America (DENA) and St. John’s College High School conduct a Lasallian Mission Assessment Process (LMAP) to ensure the educational ministry effectively carries out the Lasallian mission and lives the Lasallian charism. This process is designed to affirm key areas of strength, as well as to identify critical areas for continued growth and creativity in the Lasallian tradition.

Throughout 2017-2018, community members were challenged to consider their work through the lens of three major institute and district documents. The LMAP culminated with a successful onsite evaluation in February 2018 by the DENA Visiting Committee, who praised the efforts of the community and provided practical recommendations for the future.

I and the and other members of the LMAP Visiting Committee were struck by the way the theme of the Lasallian Catholic mission of St. John’s is integrated across the life of the school. The evidence provided in the LMAP report demonstrates that the curriculum in its many expressions both in and out of the classroom, the overall climate of care for students and the careful nurturing of the faculty and staff to develop continually a sense of vocation and mission all work together because of a high degree of intentional planning and careful implementation strategies.

Furthermore, the school’s commitment to providing access through a robust tuition assistance program results in St. John’s being able to be a community where students of varied backgrounds and needs can learn, worship, play and serve together.”

—Bro. Robert Wickman, FSC DENA Visiting Committee Member

2018 Annual Report on Mission Activities

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Poverty Education Week Turns 10!

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Poverty Education Week, an annual Lenten program through which the St. John’s community expresses its solidarity with the poor by focusing on education, service and prayer. The inclusive program planned by Mission and Ministry, Signum Fidei and the Poverty Education Committee is designed to engage all community members – students, faculty, staff and SJC families – and run across all departments.

Over the years, the program has taken on a life of its own and become one of the most important school events of the year. In addition to the fundraisers, department lessons, community service, daily prayer and artistic expression throughout the campus, modified and new activities are introduced each year.

New Programming In 2013, the Mothers’ Club began hosting the Hunger Banquet during all lunch periods. Based on the model of Oxfam, a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty, students were divided into low, middle and high economic categories and fed accordingly. The low-income majority sat on the floor and ate a bowl of rice; the middle-income sat in chairs and ate rice and beans; the high-income were served a three-course meal.

This year, the program was modified so that all students participated in a Meal of Solidarity, in which they sat on the floor and consumed a bowl of rice and beans while engaged in a facultyled meditation. Also new this year was a school-wide technology fast day, during which faculty and students abstained from the use of all technological devices, including iPads, smart phones, computers and audio/visual equipment.

Student artwork from Poverty Education Week

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St. John’s College High School

To live with Jesus is to live with the poor.

To live with the poor is to live with Jesus.”

—Jean Vanier

The SJC community raised funds to benefit the Child Discovery Centre, St. John’s twin school in Kenya, and the De La Salle Blackfeet School in Browning, MT.

Students prepared 1,000 sandwiches for Martha’s Table, a nonprofit organization that reaches thousands of people through their support programs.

The Counseling Department shared themed prayers and statistics each morning.

Student-artists created exhibits to raise awareness of the plight of the poor and made bowls for the So Others Might Eat Empty Bowl Project.

Students and faculty shared their Christian service immersion experiences.

Members from the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) spoke to junior religion classes in De La Salle Chapel.

2018 Activities

The library displayed an exhibit about the role libraries play in eliminating information poverty.

A school-wide assembly set an actionoriented tone for the week’s activities.

Senior religion classes listened to presentations from three alumni who shared their lives of service beyond SJC.

Lasallian Youth volunteered at San Miguel School.

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Extracurricular Teamwork Clubs, organizations and athletic teams at SJC attest to the power of collective action. Every day, students, faculty and parents involved in school-sponsored clubs enliven our mission with passion and purpose.

Eco Club

National Honor Society

Parent Clubs

• On a weekly basis, members

• 97 students tutored 172 peers

The Men of St. John’s • Sponsored: ✶✶ Spring barbecue for incoming freshmen and their families. ✶✶ Bi-annual dinner theater event for students and their families.

• Organized annual citrus fruit fundraiser to benefit SJC students.

• Sold concessions at SJC basketball games, home football games and grassroots sports activities and helped with operational aspects of the annual Open House event.

The Mother’s Club • Coordinated meals and assistance for families in times of need.

• Helped with operational aspects of the annual Open House event.

• Hosted: ✶✶ Meal of Solidarity during Poverty Education Week. ✶✶ Mardi Gras party for the school community. ✶✶ Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day.

collected recyclables throughout the building.

• The club offered Earth Week activities, including trash collection and removal of invasive species in Rock Creek Park.

• Club members hosted a summit to lobby for the environment.

Lasallian Youth

throughout the course of the year.

Student Government • Throughout the Christmas

season, students collected more than 600 toys and raised $1,500 for young patients of National Children’s Hospital.

• Students and faculty made 21 weekly

Signum Fidei

trips to the San Miguel School for tutoring and after-school fun.

• Four students and two faculty attended the Lasallian Youth Assembly, a week of faith expression and service at La Salle University.

• During the year, 19 faculty members

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St. John’s College High School

met to plan and analyze missionfocused initiatives, including mission education, service and faculty retreats.

• Baseball raised $7,500

• Boys’ soccer helped run

• Rugby transported

• Alumni participants in

for Vs. Cancer during the WCAC Vs. Cancer Weekend event.

• Boys’ basketball hosted students from Faunteroy Community Enrichment Center.

• Boys’ lacrosse hosted a Cup of Joe event, packing lunches for clients of Catholic Charities’ homeless shelters.

Achilles football clinics throughout the year.

• Equestrian team visited Rock Creek Park Horse Center to learn about their therapeutic riding program.

• Field hockey, girls’ lacrosse and football went Christmas caroling at men’s and women’s shelters run by Catholic Charities.

collected food items to the Little Sisters of the Poor.

• Softball purchased items to prepare care packages to be distributed to homeless clients of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House.

• Wrestling hosted a wrestling clinic for students from San Miguel.

the Doc Scalessa Golf Tournament raised $32,000 for tuition assistance.

• The Matt Dillon Memorial Golf Tournament raised $15,000 for the SJC football and baseball programs.

A Community-Centered Curriculum Faith development at SJC isn’t exclusive to liturgies or religion class lectures; it’s the cornerstone of our curriculum. From physics to the performing arts, our curriculum challenges students to strengthen their faith and commitment to social justice.

English Department • For nearly two decades, the English Department has

sponsored the San Miguel Drive. This year, faculty and students raised $68,000 for the San Miguel School and visited with the students to learn more about their school.

St. John’s Amigos Offering service within and beyond the community is one of the hallmarks of a Lasallian education. Since 2001,

Performing Arts

through participation in the DC Chapter of the Amigos de

• Tri-M Music Honor Society members performed music in

las Américas program, 60 SJC students have volunteered

nursing homes, churches and for those with disabilities.

• Advanced Vocal Studies and the Woodwind Ensemble

performed for the retired Christian Brothers at Ammendale.

Religion Department • Religion classes raised $9,000 for our twinned

school in Kenya and for the De La Salle Blackfeet School during Poverty Education Week.

Visual Arts • Students participated in the Memory Project,

creating portraits of Russian children.

• Students made 78 ceramic bowls for a Martha’s Table Empty Bowls charity event.

Cadet Corps • More than 200 students, faculty and family members

laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and participated in Wreaths Across America.

• Members supported numerous curricular and extracurricular school events and activities, such as Back to School Night, Open House, parent teacher conferences and alumni events.

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St. John’s College High School

their service for up to eight weeks of their summer beyond the US borders. These students have served in nine different countries, including the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay. This unique Amigos summer volunteer program gives our students the opportunity to make an impact, while immersing themselves in a new culture and improving their Spanish.

“It was such a life-changing experience to me – realizing that people are happy with very little. It was fantastic, really learning the purpose of service – what people really need out there, and what you don’t need in this country. You can have happiness with simplicity.”

— MAJ Mary O’Donnell ’02 MD, the first-ever Amigos volunteer from St. John’s

Lasallian Ambassadors Girl Up on Capitol Hill The St. John’s chapter of the Girl Up United Nations Foundation is a passionate group of students who believe in global gender equality. Members of this club raise awareness and funds for young girls abroad who are deprived of education and safety. This year, club members learned about the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act – legislation that encourages

the US government to support programs that provide safe primary and secondary education and access to economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for displaced children. In the spring, nine members of the club went to Capitol Hill, sat down with Sen. Ben Cardin’s legislative correspondent and successfully advocated for the passing of this legislation in the Senate.

stjohnschs stjohnschs Today our French exchange group had the opportunity to visit St. John Baptist de La Salle’s birthplace and first home in Reims, France! #cadetsabroad

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Student Exchange with French Lasallians stjohnschs stjohnschs On May 9, St. John’s Girl Up Club met with Sen. Ben Cardin’s legislative correspondent. These students scheduled the meeting and successfully advocated for legislation that pushes for quality education and protection of refugee children, especially girls. #cadetsatlarge

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Last spring, St. John’s launched a student exchange program with La Salle Lille, a K-12 Lasallian school in Lille, France. Twelve students spent 10 days with host families and attended classes with their French peers. They also travelled to Reims and visited sights significant to the founding of the Christian Brothers order, including the birthplace of St. John Baptist de La Salle.

The same students hosted the La Salle Lille students at their homes and SJC. Both schools are enthusiastic about this Lasallian association – a mutual collaboration that deepens each school’s Lasallian identity.

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Students Respond: Hurricane Relief Efforts In 2017, Hurricane Harvey left areas of Texas and Louisiana in complete ruin. To contribute to the relief efforts, St. John’s raised $3,500 at the opening football game. However, the community didn’t stop there.

To provide boots-on-the-ground support to one of the hardest hit areas, a summer service trip to Houston was added to the schedule. During the weeklong trip, eight students and two faculty helped restore a home damaged by flood waters. The group also spent a day serving at a downtown soup kitchen.

“The victims of these disasters suffer the aftermath on many levels that go unnoticed. Working on Jacob’s house allowed us to get a glimpse of what the victims are going through and try to help any way we can.” – Kelly Miller ’20

Beyond Our Borders • A total of 57 students and 15 faculty served with the following five organizations: ✶✶ Sacred Heart Southern Missions, Walls, MS (three trips) ✶✶ De La Salle Blackfeet, Browning, MT ✶✶ Oscar Romero Center, Newark, NJ ✶✶ Food For The Poor, Portland Cottage, Jamaica ✶✶ Hurricane Harvey Rebuild, Houston, TX • Students also traveled abroad to serve in the following countries: ✶✶ Belize ✶✶ Dominican Republic ✶✶ Ecuador ✶✶ Haiti ✶✶ Jamaica ✶✶ Panama ✶✶ Slovenia

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St. John’s College High School

A Community Effort When the St. John’s community comes together, they accomplish remarkable things. One recent example of an outstanding SJC team effort was through the work of the Davitt/Ruppert Mission in partnership with Food For The Poor (FFP) Jamaica, the country’s largest charity organization that provides human relief services. A team of 45 students and adults traveled to Trelawny, Jamaica, over President’s

Day Weekend 2018 to help construct a new preschool. The work team included seven SJC students, as well as SJC family members and friends of the mission.

Over two days, the group constructed exterior walls, installed hurricane braces, primed the outer walls and window frames, plastered the foundation, installed windows, doors and locks, added a roof vent, painted the outer walls and installed

the septic system of the building. The mission group also brought muchneeded school and art supplies.

Classes for the more than 100 students in the new school began after Easter.

Over the years, the Davitt/Ruppert Mission group of family, friends and SJC community members has constructed more than 165 houses, a home for the elderly and as of April 2018, six schools.

“ Service Is the Gateway to Better Faith.”

—Garrett Smith ’18

While some students choose to serve others through immersion service trips or with organizations outside the US, most students volunteer through their parishes/religious affiliations and local nonprofit organizations. This map illustrates where many of our students completed community service last year.

Fr Frederick

Martha’s Table “Each year Martha’s Table and St. John’s College High School have worked to inspire stronger children, stronger families and stronger communities by increasing access to quality education, affordable clothing, healthy food and family support services.

As a non-profit with a small staff, we rely heavily on the generosity of our student volunteers to run our programming and serve the DC community. Without the help of our dedicated St. John’s volunteers, none of our work would be possible.

According to our records, the most popular volunteer shift is with our mobile food distribution truck, McKenna’s Wagon, which goes out 365 days a year to well-established stops in downtown DC and serves 200-300 meals. St. John’s students not only serve the evening meal and clean up afterward, but they also act as representatives of the organization to the greater DC community.”

—Martha’s Table Volunteer Team

Knollwood Retirement Community Many SJC students choose to serve members of Knollwood, a residential and healthcare community for retired military officers and their families. Knollwood honors military sacrifice, preserves the legacy of our armed forces and communicates gratitude to those who have protected our freedom. Students visited with community members, coordinated social and recreational activities and transported residents around the campus.

Loudon County

Fairfa

Aldie

Parish/Religious Affiliation Social Service Organization

Haymarket

Prince William County

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St. John’s College High School

Richmond

Harford County Baltimore County

Aberdeen Edgewood

Pikesville

rederick County

Baltimore Damascus

Howard County

Montgomery County

Columbia Brookeville

Germantown

Olney

Gaithersburg

Sandy Spring

Rockville Potomac

Anne Arundel County

Wheaton Kensington

Crofton

Silver Spring Chevy Chase Takoma Park Bethesda

ax County

Severna Park

Fort Meade

Laurel

Bowie Lanham

McLean

Mitchellville Washington, DC Arlington

Fairfax Vienna

Alexandria

Prince George’s County Clifton Upper Marlboro

Springfield Clinton

Waldorf La Plata

Charles County

Opening Minds | Unlocking Talents | Building Leaders www.stjohnschs.org • 202-363-2316 phone • 202-363-2916 fax • 2607 Military Road, NW, Chevy Chase, DC 20015