NORTH CHARLESTON—St. John School was the recipient of three days of hard work that left the building, and the people in it, revitalized for the coming school year.
Shepherd of the Hills Catholic Church in Wisconsin sent 28 kids and chaperones, working through the Alive in You organization, to the small school as part of an outreach mission.
The group was recommended by Erin Leonard, a St. John parent and assistant track and cross country coach at The Citadel. She compiled a wish list of tasks and helped organize the mission teams when they arrived.
Staff raved about the work the group did, including painting the upstairs and downstairs hallways, the railings in both hallways, a large storage shelf, bookshelves, Brother Damian Ryan’s office, and an outside building. They also cleaned the basement, purchased and planted flowers, weeded, purchased and put down wood chips, created gift boxes for all the teachers, and left their handprints at the front of the school as a reminder of their visit.
On their last day, they blessed Jeannette Dangerfield, school secretary, and myself with flowers and a lovely card.
As I started this new principal journey, I definitely was nervous. This team truly reinforced that I was in the right place, and I think God sent these young people my way. We recently received a donation from Christ Our King parish and were asked to tithe 10 percent to a worthy cause. Brother Damian immediately suggested that we send that money to Shepherd of the Hills to support a future mission trip.
