| 10/15/2008 11:04:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Washington Bishop Francisco González and Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill (right), superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Washington present the Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Award for Service and Justice to Susan Scott, the principal of St. John the Evangelist School in Clinton, who accepted the award for her school. The $1,000 award honors a Catholic elementary or junior high school for integrating Catholic social justice and service teaching throughout all grade levels. St. John’s was honored for its “Protecting God’s Planet” project.
CS PHOTO BY RAFAEL CRISOSTOMO |
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St. John the Evangelist School in Clinton honored for 'Protecting God's Planet'
St. John the Evangelist School in Clinton received the Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Award for Service and Justice on Oct. 10 for their program called "Protecting God's Planet." The school's principal, Susan Scott, said last year's service project was not just about "going green."
"Through prayer, education, community service projects and fund-raising, our students have embraced the concept of protecting our planet in God's name," she said.
The $1,000 award honors a Catholic elementary or junior high school for integrating Catholic social justice and service teaching throughout all grade levels. Scott received the award on behalf of her school at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington during a Catholic teachers forum on Oct. 10. Nearly 1,500 teachers attended the forum.
Every morning this past year, students at St. John the Evangelist prayed for the planet and sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," Scott said. Each month a different grade sponsored a project reflecting a different aspect of the planet.
"Our goal was awareness; we learned more about these particular areas, and how we can work to protect them," she said.
The kindergarten class taught the rest of the school how to protect and preserve rainforests. The students read books and poems, and sang songs to learn about the animals, flowers, and vegetation in the rainforest, the principal said.
"They then painted big cardboard animals such as parrots, toucans, snakes, monkeys, tigers, sloths, and butterflies that they learned can be found roaming the rainforest," she said.
Students also paid $1 to participate in monthly Mission Dress Down Days. The school then sent the money raised during these days to local "Planet Protecting" groups like the Smith Migratory Bird Center, Canine Companions for Independence, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Polar Plunge, and the Coral Reef Alliance.
Scott said students demonstrated "an improvement in their respect for God's planet."
"This can be seen in their participation in leading morning prayers, the recycling projects that they are suggesting to their teachers as well as ideas they have for helping the community at large," she said.
Upon receiving the award, Scott said "Our mission at St. John the Evangelist School is to strive to be citizen disciples of Jesus Christ."
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