The annual day of service took place on April 24, and all students and staff participated to make a change in the community. LOTAs were sent off in buses and subway to different organizations where they cleaned, sorted, and interacted with all kinds of people.
This tradition began in 2018 for the 150 anniversary of the Academy. The event was such a success that it has continued, only changed during Covid for an in-house service day.
“After Covid in 2022, we started back up with Day of Service with outside sites again,” Maika Walker, Director of Social Justice, explained.
Students filled out an online form so that she can help to match everyone to a compatible site as best as possible. Many aspects like age, requests, and availability are taken into account when assigning groups and sites.
“It all depends on what the service sites need, we try to match what they need while also taking into consideration the preferences of students,” Walker added.
Many returning students and staff describe this day as being a fulfilling experience and a refreshing day. It leaves time for everyone to get out of the school and discover a new community.
“It’s an awesome experience for our school community to come together to do something out of the day-to-day routine, to see people out of the classroom doing something that makes a difference in the world,” Linda Ruszcowski, Director of Campus Ministry, expressed.
There are events leading to the Day of Service and the months before are a time of preparation for all staff involved. Walker is the main coordinator of this event and she spends a great deal of time and effort into making sure this day runs smoothly.
“I start distributing the number of students and it really is like a puzzle because there are a lot of different things to consider,” Walker shared. “I book transportation, and we have to prepare all of the T-shirts and the T-shirt design. There is a lot of color coordinating and lots of spreadsheets.”
One of the events Tartans attend is the Service Mass the day before. This Mass is used as a way to prepare everyone to experience their work fully.
“Our monthly Mass falls on the day before as kind of a sending out. We pray together and are sent forth to do service as Jesus taught us to do,” Ruszcowski described.
Walker also prepares crafts for students to work on when they arrive back at the school. These crafts help keep LOTAs busy and keep them serving through creating a variety of crafts for charities. Some of these crafts included bookmark making, bracelet making, and cup decorating.
“If you come back to the school and you have extra time I have some fun craft projects for charity that are on campus,” Walker showed.
It was also the first year that the members of the class of 2027 had the opportunity to experience this day. Many were excited to get to experience a day of going out for service.
“It seems really exciting to be able to experience with your friends and school and to be able to participate with the Holy Cross community,” freshman Ella Oskvig stated.
