At the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, two students from the local Rocky Vista Osteopathic Medical School visited BCCHS to share their upcoming plans to travel abroad for several medical mission trips. They asked for donations from BCCHS students for basic items to assist their efforts to aid the less fortunate. In celebration of the remarkable blessing that is Catholic Schools, students were able to bestow blessings upon not only the medical students traveling to provide aid, but also directly making an impact on communities in need.
Theology teacher, Krista Wahl, was a main coordinator for the project. The connection timing was opportune for Catholic Schools Week and created an appropriate time to launch the two-week collection period. “Rocky Vista reached out to us about potentially helping to gather supplies for their mission trips, and it happened to be a week or so before the start of Catholic Schools Week, so Mr. Trafton and I thought that this would be a great idea to include in our service for CSW,” Wahl stated.
Students who have attended Catholic schools for some time are accustomed to the service projects. Students can give donations, such as cans-of-food, for a free dress day at St. Francis. At Central, Theology classes sponsor families around Christmas, and the Native American Club hosts an annual coat drive. However, partnership with new organizations is key to extending BCCHS’s community outreach. “BC does great things for its school community and local communities, but this was a way for us to help out on a global level. We take for granted all of the things that are readily available to us here in the U.S. It is so important to see the need and how we can serve others, performing works of mercy and by being the hands and feet of Christ,” Wahl said.
Not only were students encouraged to donate items by their teachers, but the project was launched through a special presentation from students at Rocky Vista. These students helped to coordinate the medical mission trips that will take place in February and March of 2025. Wahl believed that putting faces to the projects is crucial for student engagement and participation. “It made it more real to have the students traveling, to come and discuss where they were going and why they needed the supplies that they were asking for,” Wahl noted. In keeping with the Christian calling of service during a week celebrating Catholic education, donations were generously given and are now being used overseas to extend BCS’s global impact. Rocky Vista was a great avenue for students to “wash the feet” and become generous servants of Christ in a week of school-wide celebration.
