By Ricardo Murray Staff Writer
The seniors at Loyola High School always have something on their plates, but that never stops them from serving and giving back to the community.
Along with school, sports, work and other school and extracurricular activities, every Tuesday seniors have Christian Service. Each Tuesday, every senior goes to a different place and does community service. The seniors are assigned to places like the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Cass Community Social Service, tutoring younger kids, or at Gesu schools.
The seniors usually serve for two hours each Tuesday. Service days start in early September and end in late May.
The program is currently run by Theology teacher James Ryder.
“This is a great opportunity for senior students to see how the homeless live, and it also helps boost the pride within themselves and gives them empathy towards the homeless and younger children,” said Ryder, who has been running the program for three years.
Christian Service days started 40 years ago. The purpose was to have Loyola students develop the habit of serving and giving back to others, and developing them into ‘men for others’ (the motto for all Jesuit schools) before they go off to college.
When the school year ends, every senior has to reflect on the year and write an essay about their experience. Also, the student who has done the most service work will get an award at graduation.
Loyola High school has five goals for their graduates know as Grad at Grad, which are: religious, intellectually competent, open to growth, loving, and committed to doing justice. However, the goal most emphasized through Christian Service days is committed to doing justice.
