Robert Strock ‘23

---

On Thursday, January 13th, all juniors reported to the Parsley Center for a volunteer summit that addressed both volunteering for senior hours as well as wrapping up the volunteer commitment for the junior year. The summit updated juniors on when hours are due, introduced new volunteering opportunities, and explained the rules and regulations of senior volunteer hours.

“I think the summit was helpful in letting me know what to do for volunteer hours,” Hayden Mixon said. “That way I know how to turn the hours in as well as which organizations are approved for service hours.”

The summit began with a greeting from Dean Healey followed by a speech from Mr. D’Souza, Service Coordinator for our pastoral ministry, about service hours, explaining that the hours are meant to inspire SJ students to serve and give back to the community. Afterwards, he suggested different choices for volunteer hours, including camps, because of the many hours that could be gained from them in just a week, as well as other popular venues like the Houston Food Bank.

“I was a big fan of the camp choices,” Niko Dalal said, “because they’ll be fun to work and I will get a lot of hours from working at a camp. Plus, I really like working with camp kids as it feels great to directly give them a good experience with activities rather than just indirectly donating.”

The junior volunteer summit was a great experience for those who needed the advice, guidance, and refresher of the rules and specifications of the SJ service hours. It was well received by the juniors and it will help guide them to graduation.

“I think the summit was a great way to remind us on how to accomplish our volunteer hours for our senior year,” Federico Melena said. “I hope SJ decides to do this for the other grades.”