8 minute read
Campus Ministry
Mass is 'the font and apex of the Christan life' (Lumen Gentium, 11). The entire school community gathers monthly or on a Solemnity to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Masses are also offered for the various clubs and sports teams in the Bishop Tanner Chapel as requested. Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament is offered through religion classes on the first Friday of each month.
Mission and Goals
The mission of the Office of Campus Ministry at Bishop Kenny High School is to enable the members of the school community to experience, claim, and celebrate the richness of the Catholic tradition and spirit. Campus Ministry plays a unique role in the goal of forming graduates of competence, conscience, and compassionate commitment to Christian service through retreat programs, spiritual conferences, christian service and liturgical celebrations. The goals of Campus Ministry: • to ensure the Catholic identity of the school • to form a faith community on campus • to assist in the formation of the Catholic conscience of our students, faculty, and staff • to aid in making Catholic social teaching an integral part of the school’s mission • to help form future leaders for Church and society • to foster vocation to priesthood and consecrated life
Campus Ministry works to achieve these goals utilizing the following means: • a weekday Mass before school • monthly schoolwide Mass • student and faculty Opportunities for Spiritual Growth • a penance service provided every Advent and Lent so all students may make a worthy preparation for Christmas and Easter • collections for charity • Christian Service Program • Pastoral counseling and spiritual direction • Quarterly Spiritual Conferences per grade level • Bi-annual KAIROS retreats for juniors and seniors • Devotions such as Rosaries, Divine Mercy Chaplets, and Stations of the Cross offered throughout the year as announced and through our religion classes
Additionally, Campus Ministry works collaboratively with the Religion Department. Together they play an important role in helping students experience living and learning, fully integrated in the light of faith. Employing a variety of learning methods, the goals are:
• to empower adolescents to become disciples of Jesus who witness to their beliefs by living lives of faith, hope, and charity • to foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person entrusted to our care • to accompany young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the faith community
Perhaps, the most important task of Campus Ministry is ongoing pastoral care and counseling through which students receive help in dealing with issues of personal and interpersonal challenge and growth, and in coping with times of stress or crisis. Campus ministers are available to community members throughout the school day, before and after school, and by appointment.
"Each one of you has received a special grace. So like all good stewards, responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourself at the service of others." 1 Peter 4:1
Personal and Social Responsibility
Bishop Kenny High School is committed to the formation of the whole person. As a Catholic school, it is our unique mission to guide young people in developing a Christian social consciousness and a commitment to a life of justice and peace by instilling an attitude of service to others. Active participation in Christian Service is essential to the overall educational and formational curriculum of Bishop Kenny High School and is a requirement for graduation. Serving others, especially the poor, should become a habit of BKHS graduates.
The Gospel mandates that we serve our neighbor, especially the most vulnerable in society. Outside of the classroom, Bishop Kenny students reach out to serve disadvantaged people throughout the greater Jacksonville area by volunteering in nursing homes, at schools, in parishes, and at hospitals, assisting the needy, the elderly, the physically challenged, or at-risk children. Such service learning raises an awareness of the needs of others, generates greater compassion in helping them, and creates a yearning for justice.
1. When seeking service opportunities, students are encouraged to first begin with their own parish or Church community. Additionally, students may earn service hours at non-profit (501 C-3) organizations or agencies whose mission and values do not contradict Catholic social values. The Director of Campus Ministry has the right to deny volunteer hours completed at agencies who, though non-profit, may support anti-life agendas or other causes whcih are contrary to our Catholic beliefs and values. Examples: Susan B. Koman, March of Dimes, and Planned Parenthood 2. Volunteering at a business or "for-profit" organization/agency does not qualify as Christian service hours 3. Projects or activities that do not meet the listed criteria, either in whole or in part, should NOT be assumed to fulfill the school requirement. 4. Providing ordinary assistance to a teacher when asked during the school day or attending club meetings are encouraged but will not be considered a fulfillment of the service requirement. This includes Pep Rally set-up, or fundraising for a club. 5. Assisting family members with obligations and chores such as mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, cleaning the garage, painting the house, and babysitting are praiseworthy activities but do not fulfill the Christian Service requirement. 6. Any service provided for a family owned and operated business is indeed praiseworthy but does NOT meet the criteria for Christian Service. 7. Students who participate in mission trips or other service trips may include only their working hours, not to exceed eight hours per day. Time spent traveling, eating, sleeping, etc. is not to be claimed as service. 8. Students may not earn Christian Service hours for a project for which they are paid, receive tips, or for which they are raising money for another function, trip, or event. 9. When in doubt about the suitability of a service opportunity, and in order to prevent unnecessary misinterpretations or frustrations, students are encouraged to FIRST review the Pre-Approved Service Opportunity List provided below. 10. Unless specified by the Director of Campus Ministry, one hour of service equals one hour of credit. No student or project supervisor may decide that a project deserves extra hours credited. To maintain fairness and
consistency for all, additional hours are determined only by the Director of Community Service, and are granted only in very rare instances.
Pre-Approved Service Opportunities List
Listed below are examples of pre-approved service opportunities. Projects or activities that do not meet the listed criteria, either in whole or in part, should not be assumed to fulfill the school requirement. If the intended service is not listed below, a student MUST check first with the religion teacher. If further clarification is needed, resolution may be sought by contacting the Director of Campus Ministry or his delegate. Christian Service should be completed either through the parish, a registered charity, or a non-profit organization.
Service to CHURCH: • Vacation Bible School • Classroom Aid/Assisant for Parish School of Religion • Church Bazaar/Festival • Direct service to parish/grounds cleanup • Eucharistic Congress
Service to SCHOOL: • Camp Counselor • Volunteer tutoring for the school • Volunteering for a school affiliated after school day care program • Working behind the scene for a school program/function/athletic event • Assisting with official school functions
Service to COMMUNITY: • Local public library • Soup kitchen • Food pantry/clothing closet • Ronald McDonald House • Hospital/Nursing Home/Assisted Living volunteer • Animal Shelter • Beach/Road/Park clean-up • Special Olympics • Church-sponsored mission trip (only working hours) • Camp I Am Special / Camp Promise / Camp Care • S.P. L.U.N.G.E. (working hours only) • Katie Caples race
Reporting Procedures and Guidelines
• All students MUST complete a minimum of 25 hours of Christian
Service each year they attend Bishop Kenny High School. All hours MUST be documented and veri ed through the x2VOL app. Incoming freshman and transfer students will be oriented to x2VOL in their religion classes. • Students who complete in excess of 100 hours receive special recognition at the annual award ceremony. Additionally, community civic organizations may off er scholarships based on a student’s service record. Christian Service hours are noted on the offi cial transcript of Bishop Kenny High School. All service hours must be documented as volunteer and completed outside of class hours, unless it is a school sponsored event. For information about Christian Service policies, procedures and documentation please visit bishopkenny.org/faith/ christianservice • Each year, the time frame for performing Christian Service hours will be June 1st through the end of the 3rd grading period. Service hours for seniors are due by the end of the 3rd grading period.
Reporting Procedures and Guidelines, cont'd.
Consequences for Failure to Complete Service Requirement
• All veri ed and recorded service hours appear on FACTS SIS via the parent portal. Parents are asked to monitor their child's progress regularly in order to avoid any penalties for failure to comply with school policy. • Hours earned during the fourth quarter will be applied to the current academic year. • Service hours will be adjusted on a sliding scale to accommodate transfer students. For example, transfer students who enroll at the start of the second semester are expected to complete ½ of the annual requirement or at least 12 ½ hours. • False documentation of Christian Service will be punished as academic dishonesty and a violation of the honor code, and the student will be subject to disciplinary action for honor code violations as outlined in the Parent-Student
Handbook. Hours falsely documented will be made up in service placements chosen by the administration. • Service hours completed during the summer will count for the following school year. Summer hours MUST be submitted by the Tuesday following Labor Day. • Summer hours submitted for credit after the stated deadline may result in a penalty of up to 1/2 hours served.
SENIORS: • Caps and gowns will NOT be issued until requirement is satis ed • Loss of opportunity for senior exam exemption
JUNIORS, SOPHOMORES, FRESHMEN: • Class schedules and iPads will not be released until the requirement is ful lled. Students will be assigned Saturday, on-campus work duties until the hours have been ful lled for the prior school year.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM
Effective July 1, 2022 the Safe Environment Programs for adults and teens ages 1618 who are volunteers or paid staff will include the Virtus adult modules and the Teen 2.0 module respectively.
The 'Circle of Grace' program from the Archdiocese of Omaha has been adopted for use in grades K-12 annually. This program meets the standards of the USCCB Charter for Protection of Children, Youth and Young People and has the imprimatur of Most Reverend George K. Lucas, Archbishop of Omaha.
