At Mount Carmel High School, Freshman IMPACT Week is not just about completing service hours. It’s also about learning about the environment and contributing to its preservation.
For most of this past school week, MC freshmen traveled around the Chicagoland area, gaining hands-on experience and discovering how they can care for creation.
Students participated in volunteer activities like helping spread woodchips in Jackson Park, collecting trash at Indiana Dunes, gathering water samples from the Jackson Park Lagoon, and building platforms for wheelbarrows.
According to Mr. John Stimler, Director of Mission and Ministry at MC, the purpose goes beyond environmental work to also transform those who participate.
“That is what we are called fundamentally to do,” Mr. Stimler said. “I don’t think anything is more important than us being who God calls us to.”
Freshman Quintin Knight found his time working in Jackson Park to be both enjoyable and educational.
“It’s a good time,” he said. “It’s a time to learn about the environment.”
For many students, IMPACT Week became an opportunity to gain knowledge about issues they may not have been familiar with. Some of the days ended with a guest speaker who talked to the entire student body about an issue related to the planet and environment. One of Tuesday’s speakers, Catherine O’Connor, spoke about the positive influence a week of service like this can have.
“I believe it’s a tremendous benefit to young minds,” Mrs. O’Connor said. “[The freshmen she chaperoned] were very respectful, they were gentlemen, and I do think that does create joy and goodwill and peace on earth.”
Mr. Matt Petrich, MC theology teacher and campus minister, also emphasized the value of service and community.
“It’s our chance to do service,” Mr. Petrich said. “So to be physically involved doing something else for the environment, that’s good. It also helps to, I think, build up our community.”
On Wednesday, guest speaker Jerome Rand highlighted how exposure to new experiences can inspire students in unexpected ways. Rand accomplished the tremendous feat of sailing solo nonstop around the entire planet years ago.
“It’s one of those things where I had no idea that people even sailed around the world, let alone by themselves,” Mr. Rand said. “Until I was exposed to some of the stories of the people that first did it, you know, fifty years ago. And if I had read those books or hadn’t heard those stories, my life would be different.”
IMPACT Week also allowed guest speakers to inspire students with new perspectives, encouraging them to grow and aim higher. Mr. Stimler pointed out that the week strengthens not only individuals but also the larger school as a whole.
“We do it together as a community,” Mr. Stimler said. “We talk about the community as being so important. Service being so important. The brotherhood being so important, and this allows teachers and students and staff and administrators to go out and do service together, to do this shoulder to shoulder.”
Mr. Petrich added that the program also helps students gain a clearer understanding of Catholic teaching on creation and care for the environment.
“I think they take away a generally deeper understanding of whatever the theme is,” Mr. Petrich said. “In terms of creation, right now, there’s all sorts of ideas about fallacies, really, about climate change being put out there now. And the Catholic Church is very resolute and strong in its stance that we need to protect our environment.”
For the students of MC, Freshman IMPACT Week has been more than just a requirement; it was an eye-opening experience that connected them with the environment, their community, and one another.
