News release from Fontbonne Academy
Fontbonne Academy hosted the first-of-its-kind “Ducks in Service Day” on Wednesday, April 24, sending out the entire junior class and senior members of the National Honor Society to do service at eight different locations ranging from a school, to a nursing home to the Fontbonne convent. The objective of the day was to extend Fontbonne’s reach in service, helping others, which ties directly into Fontbonne’s mission.
Specific service sites included: Eventide Nursing Home, St. Agatha School, Brookview House, Cradles 2 Crayons, Germantown Neighborhood Center, Casserly House, The Women’s Table and the Fontbonne Convent. After beginning the day with a prayer, the teams of students dispersed to their respective locations and juniors were led by senior N.H.S. officers in service activities.
Mr. Wessman of Fontbonne’s Theology department, Jiaqi Shen ‘14 of Quincy, Rebecca Simmons ‘13 of Abington sort clothes at Cradles to Crayons in Brighton.
The students served in many capacities depending upon the needs of the organization. Some students weeded, while others played games and entertained the elderly, others organized closets and stocked food pantries, and yet others led younger students in anti-bullying workshops. Upon their return to Fontbonne, students reflected on their service in groups and developed posters which summarized, through imagery, their experiences and insights from the day.
Students were moved by the day and reflected on serving those in need, or the “dear neighbor” as it is called in the Fontbonne mission, or charism. Fontbonne instills in its students the tenets of respect, reverence, responsibility and reconciliation and students’ reflections incorporated these principles in many different ways.
“We are thrilled with the day’s events,” said Head of School, Mary Ellen Barnes. “The first Ducks in Service Day went off without a hitch thanks to the great planning of the National Honor Society Officers. It was their idea and they brought it to fruition.”