Mission Week at NDA
Sixteen high school students stepped up and stepped out to serve as leaders and mentors during the Academy of Notre Dame’s Mission Week from Monday, April 7 - April 11.
The students from grades 9-11 spent the week serving as retreat leaders. Each school morning, the group joined together in prayer in Our Lady’s Chapel and then worked with small groups of middle school students on special projects including building an outdoor classroom and learning area around the Academy’s geodome.
The students, who needed faculty and parent approval before being accepted as a retreat leader, project managed and implemented the following as part of their experience:
Built 8 benches (3 for Rachel’s Trail, NDA’s on campus running/walking trail)
Built 3 picnic tables
Installed 5 garden boxes
Transplanted 200 seedlings
Cleared walking and running rails
Beautified NDA’s campus
At the end of each day, the group gathered for reflection and prayer.
The school-wide Mission Week is dedicated to Laudato Si, Pope Francis' encyclical to care for the earth. Students in grades Pre-K through 5 helped by growing seedlings while learning about the life cycle of plants, soil chemistry and composting.