Saint Joseph Academy Campus Ministry https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2010/saint-joseph-academy-campus-ministry https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Saint Joseph Academy Campus Ministry

Additional Information
Used for	Funds granted will be used to support SJA’s Campus Ministry. This department focuses on the spiritual formation of every member of the student body and faculty and staff. This is accomplished through required courses offered through the Religious Studies Department, age appropriate retreats, and ongoing participation in community service/outreach projects.
Benefits	Saint Joseph Academy’s Campus Ministry Program teaches students to be keenly aware of and actively attentive to their responsibility to their community. Their work has a ripple effect throughout our community; their example impacts their families, neighborhoods, and the many communities they reach up the lower Rio Grande Valley and across the border in Mexico. Our students’ energy and spirit gives hope and encouragement to those they serve: the sick, the poor, and the elderly.
Proposal Description	Our region has one of the largest populations in the country and yet has the least resources. Deep south Texas is historically underserved, and despite the vast wealth in our state, remains that way. Many in our community struggle to fulfill life’s basic needs, including spiritual sustenance. SJA’s Campus Ministry Program helps students develop a life-long awareness of and sense of responsibility to the needs of the society they call home, as well as those of neighboring communities. Retreats: Retreats and/or encounters are available for all grade levels. These events are led by members of the faculty who serve as mentors and approximately thirty trained student leaders. During these off-campus experiences, students address questions of personal faith, build community, and have prayer experiences appropriate for their age range. Retreats and Encounters provide a stepping stone to becoming spiritually informed, responsible leaders in our community. Activities include:  7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th graders (approximately 540 students) have a one-day retreat at Comunidad de Ama, a Catholic facility in Brownsville, TX. This retreat is offered free of charge to all participants.  Juniors (approximately 140 students) participate in a 3-day encounter which is based on an established Marist Program and is consistent in its presentation each year. Encounter is conducted at Camp Capers in Waring, Texas, a Christian camping facility that offers a natural and peaceful setting that encourages prayer and reflection. In an effort to offset the cost of transportation, lodging, and food, each participant s asked to contribute a $120 fee. Twenty four percent of SJA’s student body receives financial assistance and thus many are unable to contribute the fee. On such occasions, Campus Ministry waives the fee; participation in this or any other Campus Ministry Program is not cost prohibitive.  The senior retreat (approximately 140 students) is also a 3-day experience and was most recently held at T Bar M, a Christian Camp located on Lake Travis in New Braunfels, Texas. Participants are asked to contribute a $150 fee for which waivers are granted based on student need. Missions: In keeping with a 17 year old tradition, SJA Missionaries began their 2009 experience at Palm Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Brownsville after which they departed for the Loma de Vida Retreat Center in Edinburg, Texas, their home for the week to follow. Our missionaries joined forces with Proyecto Azteca, Project Arise, Buckner Children and Family Services, and the Benedictine Sisters, agencies throughout the upper Rio Grande Valley that share our Marist mission which stresses participation in the Church’s preferential option for the poor. In previous years, Saint Joseph Academy students have traveled to villages of extreme poverty in Tamaulipas, Mexico to participate in community service /outreach programs in service of children, women and the elderly.