Page 30 - Priorities #67 2017 Spring

Giving Back:
The Priory Way
The Freshmen and Sophomore classes took a step outside the classrooms for the week of January 17th-20th to experience the firsthand needs of the communities that surround them. The week has come to be known as Service Week.
Freshmen had four locations that they rotated among. They went to the 49er Academy, Acterra, Ecumenical Hunger Program, and The Sequoias. Sophomores were allowed to se- lect a non-profit organization to work with for the week,
including Abilities United, Camp Jones Gulch YMCA, Si-
ena Youth Center, Cesar Chavez Academy, St. Anthony’s
Padua Dining Room, San Carlos Adult Day Service, and
on campus Priory Stewardship and Sustainability.
Students developed relationships with the people they served and the volunteers they worked with. The hope is that the experiences will ignite interests and pas- sions that extend beyond this experience and students will live out the Priory’s Mission and become “lifelong learners and stewards who will productively serve a world in need of their gifts.”
“I witnessed Individuality today when I thought about the difference between my privilege and advantages in life versus theirs, to know the difficulties of not having food every day. I connected this thought with the idea of monks and not having anything to your name.”
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“It was a wonderful experience
to go and help the community around the area of the school. It felt fulfilling to help preserve na- ture that is left in this world. I also learned a lot about plants, animals and native species vs. non-native.”
SERVICE