HAPPY SHOES DAY!

Forest Gump once said, "You can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear... where they've been and where they are going...". 

Our student community has been going strong over the past five months answering the needs of our local and global communities.  In thanksgiving for their generous hearts and service outreach, we celebrated with a free wear your favorite shoes day!  All students could dress out of uniform and have a free jean tag day. A BIG THANK YOU from the Students In Action Leadership team!

 

NEW GREAT THINGS UNDERWAY!

Dear Readers,


This has been an amazing past year! 

This year, new Facebook, Blogs and Websites have been launched for Students In Action members by Jefferson Awards and their affiliates.  Our BA Students will be using these sites to communicate with their fellow students and supporters.  

As a result, this site will officially say, "Goodbye". 

 If you are interested in Campus Ministry activities, you may continue to check-in on our Good News Blog.  http://benedictineacademy.blogspot.com/

We have also created a new blog called "Globe Changers".   This will be a internet meeting place to obtain information on movements underway by our Benedictine Academy Campus Ministry Student Leaders to help save and improve lives...  http://globechangers.blogspot.com/

Inspired and inspiring.  May God Bless You.

 

MORE GOOD NEWS!

We just heard the Good News!

We are pleased to announce the 2011
New Jersey Jefferson Awards Youth Service Honorees.
Benedictine Academy (PBJ Club), Elizabeth

Benedictine Academy (SHAC Club), Elizabeth

"There were so many great youth service projects!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the New Jersey Make Service Count Challenge, a Youth Service Initiative of the NJ Governor's Jefferson Award coordinated by the Star Ledger and the Community Foundation of NJ.

In addition to the Benedictine School Community winning the Jefferson Award New Jersey Regional Competition and Gold Banner for outstanding volunteerism, two of our service clubs are being honored for their exceptional good works at the Newark Museum on May 21.

The PEACE & JUSTICE CLUB has been working diligently at spreading their Anti-Bullying Program to other schools in the local communities and across the states.

The SHAC CLUB (Students Helping All Children) has been focusing their efforts on helping raise awareness to stop child slave labor, especially in the chocolate industry.

Both of these clubs have been leaders of change bringing hope into the world. Together, we can and are making a difference across the globe. How awesome is that!

Pro-Life Rally

Pro-Life Rally at Seton Hall University on Friday was truly amazing!

New Jersey's Eighth Annual Pro-Life Youth Rally was full of messages of "Life, Love, and Joy"! Sean Forrest, Founder of Movin' with the Spirit, the keynote speaker rocked the hall as he spoke of the value of life and the importance of faith and good works. The same faithful students who attended the pro-life march in Washington DC earlier this year attended the Pro-Life Rally at Seton Hall University.

After celebrating together Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist, awards were presented to school service clubs that had been active in their pro-life efforts. Benedictine Academy's Pro-Life Club received an award for all of their outstanding service in collecting baby clothes and donations for unwed mothers. It was an indescribable experience as our Pro-Life Club and Student In Action Team shared with other students information regarding ant-bullying, child slave labor in the chocolate industry, and human trafficking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9H8RcsofEQ

WE WON THE GOLD!

Benedictine Academy won the Gold Medal

for Jefferson Award

Regional Competition

for the State of New Jersey!

Our Students In Action Team attended NJPAC for the Spring Regional Competition of the Jefferson Awards this past Tuesday. Mayor Booker was the keynote speaker. He was absolutely amazing as he shared his own leadership stories of challenges and successes. A Yale Law Graduate, he learned a few of his greatest lessons from a wise woman who lived in a housing development in Newark and a mother with two small children on a cross-country plane flight. Mayor Booker spoke about the importance of the human dignity of every human being and the power of choosing to touch another life in small ways with kindness. It was wonderful for our students to hear how the Mayor spoke of the Lord being very present in his life, teaching and guiding him every step of the way. Mayor Cory Booker, himself, is a National Jefferson Award winner.

Students from over a dozen New Jersey High Schools filled the room as they shared their volunteer leadership experiences and worked together to develop proposals for service projects.

Then came the moment for which we were all anxiously waiting. The judging of the SIA Competition was based on 7 criteria: Engaged School Community, Effective Leadership Team, Expanded Volunteer Capacity, Expanded Financial Capacity, Communication of Service Projects, Growth of SIA, and Innovations.

Benedictine Academy scored the highest percentage

of desired outcomes and completed all 7 directives!

Afterwards, Ms. Karen Hatcher shared that the judges commented that BA's Student In Action presentation was "excellent! Nearly every judge gave them perfect marks. They said it was "well-planned", "very engaging", and "great delivery"." (Ms. Karen Hatcher is the Regional Director of Students In Action in New Jersey.)

Mr. Robert Ford, Executive Director of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, shared, "Your students captured the essence of what makes me proud to be an American citizen, and personify the hope that I have for the future... I look forward to welcoming yourinspirational young leaders to Washington DC as the New Jersey recipients of the Jefferson Awards Outstanding High School ( Volunteerism Service Leadership)."

National Youth Leadership Summit

This weekend, several of our Students In Action Leadership Team headed to Cincinnati, Ohio to attend and present a leadership workshop at the National Youth leadership Conference. It was an amazing experience for all the youth who participated in this empowering event.

The session opened with a motivating speech by Sam Beard, one of the original founders of the prestigious Jefferson Award Service Program.(Jacqueline Onassis, co-founder, established this Nobel Service program to recognize and honor ordinary individuals and groups doing extraordinary things for their communities.) Robert Ford, the National Director of Jefferson Awards out of Washington DC, then delivered an inspiring talk sharing his work with youth all around the globe. Robert Ford shared emphatically with the hundreds of youth present how he believed that they were the "LEADERS OF TODAY"!

Our students formed close friendships with the student leaders fromIllinois and Delaware. They are looking to partner with these schools on various service projects across the nation, as well as to work more closely with Robert Ford on a project in the Philippines for Human trafficking. Their workshop on "how to form a MINGA by engaging the community" was an overwhelming success.

The weekend concluded with a symposium of the various service projects. Judges awarded two $300. grants for service leadership presentations on projects which had the most significant impact on their communities. Benedictine's Academy STUDENTS IN ACTION LEADERSHIP TEAM WERE NAMED THE WINNER OF THE GRANT!

Service Leadership is a critical component of our Mission Statement. At BA, our students are "Listening, Loving, Learning and Leading " the way to making our world a better place.

Campus Ministry Students Appear on Mayor's Show

Excitement filled the air as 8 of our Campus Ministry Student Leaders prepared for their taping of Mayor Bollwage's bi-weekly cable television show. This was the action taken in follow-up to their meeting in our library with the Mayor of Elizabeth a few short weeks ago. The show was taped live (no editing) in two segments. In the first segment of the show, Mayor Bollwage asked the girls questions pertaining to bullying in and out of schools and human trafficking. What is bullying? How common is bullying? What should a person do if they are being bullied? If you have asked these questions yourself, there is an informative website that provides simple and concise answers. http://www.stopbullying.gov/

They also discussed the growing problem of human trafficking. "What is Human Trafficking? How do people recruit their victims? Which countries are affected by Human Trafficking?" If you are interested in learning more about this growing epidemic, visit our Campus Ministry Human Trafficking website and check the United Nations Blue Heart Campaign - http://www.unodc.org/blueheart/ The last segment of the show focused on Child Slave Labor in the chocolate industries. "What exactly does child slave labor entail? How do we know if the chocolate we are eating is from a company who uses slave labor? How can people take a stand against child slave labor?" A few of our students from the SHAC SQUAD (Students Helping All Children) explained that this is a form of modern day slavery to young children between the ages of 12-16 that must be stopped. The best chocolate to buy is Fair Trade Chocolate that carries the Fair Trade Logo. Otherwise, you can go to the Green America website to check out your favorite brand of chocolate. Are there any brands that definitely do not honor the UN Protocol to use cocoa plantations that pay fair wages and do not use child slave labor? Unfortunately, we discovered Hershey Chocolate has made little effort to ensure that their product does not use child slave labor. You can speak out against these unfair practices by not buying Hershey Chocolate or writing to David West at the Hershey company. All the information may be found on Green America's website. http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=238 Join us in becoming a Voice for the Voiceless. We can do something by speaking out in the light about these grave injustices that are affecting our society, locally and globally.