Learning to Serve
Butler Catholic School student Tyler Kos and his fifth-grade classmates stand around their desks folding blue plastic shopping bags in half, smoothing them out, then folding them into quarters and smoothing them again.
They do this over and over until their teacher, Rosemary Watson, instructs them to cut the folded strips into roughly one-inch-wide pieces.
When the students open up those strips they have loops that they will stretch in rows across a 32-inch by 26-inch piece of cardboard.
More of the loops will be connected together to make a ball of “plarn” — plastic yarn.
The students will work all year to “weave” the plarn into mats that will be donated to Catholic Charities for the homeless.
“It makes me feel good inside to know I'm helping the homeless,” Tyler said.
This is just one of the ways students at Butler Catholic School show they believe, as followers of Jesus Christ, that they are called to serve one another and the greater community.
Another way is with the school garden where the students raise produce and donate it to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank.
On a harvest morning in July, students picked lettuce, snow peas and Swiss chard, then donated 16 pounds of the vegetables to the food bank, which is where the majority of the fresh vegetables grown over summer are sent.“Sharing their harvests with the community makes the focus of the garden club that much more meaningful and inspiring,” said Sister John Ann Mulhern, principal. “Seeing the students' faces beam with pride and accomplishment, knowing that they are helping other children and families, is the best reward we could receive.“Butler Catholic School looks forward to continuing the support to our community.”Also during the summer, 18 students and alumni served for a week at Catholic Heart Work Camp in Oil City.The camp bills itself as providing opportunities for parish youth groups to restore homes, feed the hungry, lift the spirits of children, bring joy to the elderly and disabled, and offer assistance to social agencies.
During Butler Catholic's 50th anniversary weekend celebration this weekend, volunteers will fill backpacks for the Kids Weekend Backpack Program that ensures children in need in the Butler Area School District go home each weekend with child-friendly, self-serving snacks and easy-to-prepare meals.The school is also gathering donations to stock the program's food shelves.At Butler Catholic, students learn far more than academics — they learn to serve.Cindy Cusic Micco is the communications director for Butler Area Catholic Parishes and Butler Catholic School.
