Service Learning at Notre Dame Academy
“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our Catholic faith teaches us that we must not only learn, but that we must use what we learn to help others. Serving others is a key learning experience at Notre Dame Academy.
Our students engage in service by: cantoring or serving at masses; supporting younger grades as “big buddies”; volunteering in our communities, at church, and school events; performing songs and visiting with older parishioners at the IHM Christmas luncheon; working at animal shelters; writing letters of appreciation; helping at our Christmas Boutique; volunteering to babysit; and cleaning parks in our community. Our staff volunteer at a local food pantry, package meals at Feed My Starving Children and serve throughout our community as role models for students. This service list continues to grow!
Service learning positively impacts our staff, students, and those they serve. It has a worthwhile personal and interpersonal impact on us. Service learning opportunities help us to develop empathy, make connections, practice patience, increase our confidence, step outside our comfort zones and grow our leadership skills. Acts of service break down barriers and foster a responsibility for the greater good. Service at NDA helps us learn to love ourselves and others. By supporting the dignity of others through service, we nourish our own dignity.
“We are not called to serve merely in order to receive a reward, but rather to imitate God. Nor are we called to serve only now and again, but to live a life of serving. When you serve others, this is love!” Pope Francis
