Dear Parents/Guardians, 

This year, your junior student will participate in Carondelet’s Junior Immersion Program. As part of our Symbols and Ethics curriculum, students learn about poverty and homelessness in the East Bay and, specifically, Contra Costa County. Students have chosen one of three options for their junior immersion: serving at Monument Crisis Center with their classmates, serving at a hunger/food insecurity nonprofit of their choice on their own time, or writing an essay on food insecurity and homelessness. We hope that, through this immersion, students will more fully understand that every person has innate human dignity and is made in the image of God. 

Your student has chosen to serve at Monument Crisis Center. Please read the following important information.

Who Is Participating and What Will They Be Doing?

Students who have chosen to serve at Monument Crisis Center will be participating with their Symbols and Ethics classmates. The field trip schedule is as follows:

Schedule of Junior Immersions:

Please click this link to see what date your student is signed up for Junior Immersion.

You will need to know this date when you fill out the permission slip.

Students volunteer for the day at Monument Crisis Center through their Food Distribution Program. Students will be organizing and preparing the Center’s food warehouse, and they will have an opportunity to learn more about how the Center serves their local neighborhood. This field trip will be chaperoned by your student’s Symbols and Ethics teacher and additional teachers.

How Will Students Prepare for and Travel to Monument Crisis Center?

The students will be taking a bus to Monument Crisis Center. We ask that students arrive at school at 7:45 AM. The bus will be leaving Carondelet High School at 8:15 AM. Students will return to Carondelet High School by bus at 1:30 PM, where they will conclude their immersion experience with a reflection in the chapel. The estimated end time is 2:30 PM.

COVID-19 Guidelines

Monument Crisis Center requires all of its volunteers to be fully vaccinated and wear a mask that fits snuggly around the nose and face. Volunteers will need to show proof of vaccination upon arrival at Monument Crisis Center. Volunteers may show their physical vaccine card, a picture of their vaccine card, or their digital COVID-19 vaccine record (QR code). Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Records can be retrieved at https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/. Volunteers are considered fully vaccinated if they have received at least two doses of the vaccine.

If your student feels sick on the day or morning prior to your field trip, they will need to stay home.

Please review these important details that will help your student prepare for the immersion:

• Attire: Jeans (no rips, holes, or distressed) or other uniform pants and a Carondelet top. NO LEGGINGS. Because we will be representing our school, we want to make sure we dress professionally and appropriately. We appreciate your help in making sure that your student is dressed appropriately.
• Students will bring their COVID-19 Vaccination Record (physical card or QR code) and a mask with them to Monument Crisis Center.
• Bring water, a snack, and lunch. Students may bring a small backpack to carry these items to Monument Crisis Center.
• Students will also bring one food item to donate to Monument Crisis Center. Please bring one of the following items: cereal, peanut butter, squeezable jelly in a plastic bottle, spaghetti, or snack bars.

Permission Slip Form

Please fill out the permission slip form using this link. Permission slips are due by January 24th.

We look forward to sharing this meaningful experience of service with your student. Thank you for partnering with us to make this immersion possible. If you have any questions about Junior Immersion, please contact Vanessa Miranda, Campus Minister for Community Service and Social Advocacy, by email (vmiranda@carondeleths.org) or phone 925-686-5353 x141. 

Sincerely, 

Vanessa Miranda

Campus Minister for Community Service & Social Advocacy