Dear Saints Family,
Begin with the end in mind – Stephen Covey from
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
. To do that, we laser focus on our mission – equipping mind, body, and spirit for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. Last school year, we spotlighted
purpose
. This school year, we will dive deep into what it means to prepare Saints for
lives of service
– at home and school, in our community, to our nation, at and through our churches, and around the globe.
As a Christian school with Jesus Christ at the center of our faith, we have a perfect example for service, Jesus himself. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, the Son of Man [Jesus] “came not to be served but to serve.” So we seek to see our students develop hearts and minds and hands for service as well.
Service should be far more than a school requirement, but we do set a 20-hour a year baseline as a means to provide the discipline that many of us need to act. My hope is that if hearts are not bent towards service out of the gate, that hearts (filled with love, empathy, justice) might follow from acts of service.
Let’s get practical. What does this mean for the 2019-20 school year? Service hours each school year are a VCHS graduation requirement and this summer might be the perfect time to begin working toward that goal. Because we value service in the Vail Valley, 10 of the 20 hours must be completed within Eagle County. The remaining hours may be served outside (state, national, international). Hours may be completed in a number of ways, and students are responsible for ensuring their service falls within school guidelines found online in the Student/Parent Handbook on p. 53 with service such as:
Academic Tutor or Athletic Coach
Library, Senior Center, Recreation Department, Youth Center, Art Center
Non-profits (Habitat for Humanity, Roundup River Ranch, Eagle River Valley Food Bank, Eagle County Historical Society, etc.)
Mission trips
Parks, open space, and public reserves
Church sponsored activities
All School Cleanup the morning of August 10th
This is not an exclusive list but provides a few examples. Questions regarding service opportunities that meet VCHS guidelines and tracking service hours through
x2vol
can be directed to Lori Hixon, Director of College Counseling and Service Coordinator. Incoming freshmen and transfer students will learn more about x2vol once the school year begins.
I’m excited to see what God has in store for us this school year as we open our hearts, minds, and hands to serve this year, laying the groundwork for
lives of service
.
Warm regards,
Steve O’Neil
Head of School
