Feature News

'Planting seeds of compassion'

Summer course at St. Thomas Aquinas offers teens hands-on lessons in social justice

Thursday, July 22, 2010
Melody Regalado - Florida Catholic correspondent

FORT LAUDERDALE — From environmental concerns to genocide prevention, from homelessness to mental disabilities, high school students from St. Thomas Aquinas are nurturing seeds of compassion while learning to put their Catholic education into practice.

Social Justice in Action is a summer school honors class that runs for two-and-a-half weeks each year and is open to current students or incoming freshmen.

“The course is a hands-on approach to learning about the principles of Catholic social teaching that gives the students an opportunity to put their faith into action,” said Hugh Huck, a theology teacher at St. Thomas and one of the creators of the program.

The school is very supportive of the program and sees it as part of its mission, said Huck. The course has expanded from 24 students in its first year, seven years ago, to 84 this summer.

Theology teachers Huck, Steven Staudenmeyer and Patrick O’Dea, co-creators of the program, teamed up this summer with fellow teachers Ron Wohlert, Dee Layman and Kathy Myrick to teach the course.

They began each day with prayer and reflection to make students aware of different topics that came up in the course of the program. Then they were split into groups and told their assignments for the day — which rotated every day so that they could gain more exposure. The students visited each location for about two hours. At the end of each day, they wrote reflections in their journals about their experiences.

Huck said part of the inspiration for this program came from taking a ministry course at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. The group visited several locations to learn about different places of ministry and the importance of the Catholic faith, not just in academic terms.

“We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ working in the world,” he said, “because Christianity is active, not passive.”

Jackson Prescott, an incoming sophomore at St. Thomas Aquinas, said he was able to better understand and accept others after his experience in the program.

“It’s a lot of fun and you learn a lot,” he said. “You pull yourself outside of your comfort zone and learn about yourself, too.”

Jackson said he particularly enjoyed going to the Ann Storck Center in Fort Lauderdale, which serves people with mental disabilities, and working with kids with autism, as he aspires to be a special education teacher in the future.

Aside from children, students also had the opportunity to visit the elderly at St. Elizabeth Adult Day Care Center in Pompano Beach. Administered by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, it provides a place for the elderly to do activities, socialize and get some exercise.

“This helps students realize that our elderly are important, whether they’re related to them or not, and they still want to socialize with others just like the students would,” said Mary Forney, program coordinator at St. Elizabeth. “They really love seeing young people because it reminds them of their grandchildren.”

Students helped the elderly in making crafts, such as painting and beading to help with dexterity, and sat to just talk or took walks outdoors.

Forney also said it is good for students to realize that there are needs in the world, regardless of the age group.

“Teens are growing up in a very different world, especially with the advancing communication technology,” said Huck. “The same thing that can link them to the world also disengages them, and they have to learn to interact.”

At first the experience can be awkward, said Huck, as students are in a bit of a shock and are challenged to reach beyond their comfort levels. He saw their walls breaking down, however, as they began to talk and interact with the people in the locations they visited.

“They start seeing the emotions, hopes and dreams that people have with this face-to-face interaction,” he said.

“One of my favorite experiences was seeing their compassion with adults with cerebral palsy since it’s always easier with children,” said Layman, a Church history and social justice teacher at St. Thomas. “At first they were somewhat uncomfortable, but by the end of the day they were smiling for pictures and helping feed the patients lunch.”

Jessie Mott, an incoming sophomore at St. Thomas, was particularly impacted by the visit to the United Cerebral Palsy facility in Fort Lauderdale, where students talked and played with the center’s patients.

“It made me be more appreciative of my life,” she said. “It taught me to not be so selfish and realize that some people don’t have what I have.”

After this experience, Jessie wants to become more involved with her community and also join the Social Justice Club at the high school.

“Social justice is an integral part of our faith, and this experience opens our eyes to what it really means,” said Layman. “The greatest thing for me is seeing the change in their personal behavior and seeing their acceptance of others.”

Another location students visited was the Cooperative Feeding Program in Fort Lauderdale, which helps to support and feed homeless people and families. Students had the opportunity to serve and prepare meals, organize the donations to the food pantry, or simply converse with the patrons.

“The tasks may seem menial to the students — making sandwiches and washing pots and pans — but the end result is that people are being fed,” said Chris Polzer, who has served as volunteer and special events manager at the Cooperative Feeding Program for seven years.

The center relies on volunteers, as it has a staff of just 20 people serving over 200 people every morning in the dining room and providing about 150 with food boxes throughout the day.

“A lot of people haven’t met the homeless face-to-face, and when students get the opportunity to interact with them, they find a different impression than what they grew up with,” said Polzer. “Hopefully there is a bud of compassion starting here as a result of their visit, and the world is in dire need of compassion.”

Huck shares Polzer’s belief that this experience is about planting seeds, and some students have written to him after high school about how their education and experiences at St. Thomas have inspired them to study certain careers, from foreign policy to therapy.

“This is an eye-opening experience for the students,” said Huck. “All of us are entitled to the respect and dignity of a human being and to participate in society.”