Student-led Summertime Service 2024

Central to our Holy Child mission, service-learning experiences allow our children to act as leaders, perspective, and practice teamwork while developing a more compassionate worldview. Service-learning is embedded into our school curriculum, and we invite our community to participate in hands-on service throughout the school year, from volunteering to hosting collections to benefit others. Better yet, stories of our students serving others outside of school year — and during their summer, no less — underscores the character development that our students experience through lessons in and beyond our Holy Child classrooms.

Serving as Guides for a Day of Summer Fun
On a hot July day, Middle School students TJ, Luke, and Carter could be found walking the Wildwood Boardwalk with new friends that they made while volunteering with Helen L. Diller Vacation Home for Blind Children. This organization provides families with visually impaired children the opportunity to enjoy a weeklong vacation, supported by camp counselors who live on-site throughout the summer and volunteers whose assistance is vital to ensure the success of special outings. As volunteer guides, our students partnered with children of similar ages who have visual impairments and accompanied them to the boardwalk’s water park and amusement park. The experience provided our students with a newfound perspective, underscored by TJ’s reflection. “Our buddies were very open to answering questions about living life with visual impairments. We were able to learn about how they handle everyday activities that we might take for granted,” TJ explains. “Through this service experience, I became aware and more grateful for what I have.” Carter adds, “It was nerve wracking at first to be a guide, but we became friends throughout the course of the day. At the water park, my buddy and I went down a water tube slide together, and it was his first time ever experiencing that! That moment made me feel especially good about my actions that day.”

Selling Lemonade for a Cause
Inspired by the impact of our PreKindergarten Lemonade Stand fundraiser, which benefits Alex’s Lemonade Stand each year, Elle asked her parents if she could host her own lemonade stand this summer in Beach Haven, NJ. Elle chose her beneficiary to be Compassion Cafe, a Beach Haven-based cafe providing meaningful employment and job training for adolescents and adults with disabilities. Her Fourth of July lemonade stand was a huge success, and Elle was thanked in front of the entire Beach Haven community by the cafe’s owner for organizing this fundraiser. In addition, moved by Elle’s act of generosity, the Café has received over $1,000 from others who were moved by the story shared on social media! Elle’s parents share, “We are thankful for the incredible experiential learning that Holy Child provides. It is evident that Elle’s PreKindergarten teachers Rita Smith and Joanne McGee are teaching ‘the joy of giving back’ to the next generation! Rosemont fosters the confidence to bring charity to action, and we were so proud to see Elle bring the skills she learned at school outside the classroom.”