Moments at the Mount

Rockets lean into charity, Lent

In recent weeks, Mount St. Mary Catholic High School has had ample opportunities to put service into action and pray in community.

A.C.T.S. Week 2025
A.C.T.S. Week is an annual Mount St. Mary tradition. Short for Assisting Charities Through Service, A.C.T.S. week allows The Mount community to contribute financially to a local charity. Each year, the charity in question is chosen by members of student council and is announced in the weeks ahead of the fundraising period. 

This year, MSM donated to Citizens Caring for Children, a non-profit that serves Oklahoma foster children. Through donations, it provides new clothing, shoes and other resources to foster families.

At the opening assembly on Feb. 24, representatives from Citizens shared the mission and importance of providing new resources for foster children. 

“So many foster children receive older or used articles of clothing, so it’s really important to us that we provide them the opportunity to pick out what style of clothes they like, individually, and that the clothes are new,” one representative said.

Throughout the week, students were given opportunities to raise money, with the majority purchasing dress-down passes for the week, each sold for $10. Additionally, events during academic period (students’ daily study hall period) such as 3v3 basketball, bingo and others contributed to the total donation.

The two largest events of the campaign were the “dare” assembly on Feb. 28 and the teacher auction on March 4. Don’t worry, students weren’t selling off their teachers to the highest bidder, literally. 

At the dare assembly, student council members introduced the students and staff who had agreed to fulfill dares. Dares such as eating spicy food, spending several minutes in an ice bath, getting duct-taped to the dugout wall – even shaving off an eyebrow – were among the dares MSM students and staff took on, all to raise money for the cause of Citizens Caring for Children.

Eddie Clark, class of 2025, infamously had his head and eyebrows shaved at the assembly, following suit to his commitment of doing so last year. 

At the teacher auction, students bid on having lunch with different teachers of their choice. While the majority of options with teachers, some appealed to different tastes. Nancy-Marie Arteaga, the primary algebra teacher, auctioned a movie day for a class and a week of no IXL homework (an online program for math practice). One student even bid $375 to have a barbecue lunch with Coach Jay Suber.

At the conclusion of the auction, student council members presented the final check to Citizens Caring for Children. The amount MSM raised, in less than two weeks, totaled more than $12,000. The week was a tremendous success and true testament to the generosity of The Mount community. 

Ash Wednesday 2025
Following A.C.T.S. Week, MSM gathered for an all-school Mass in observance of Ash Wednesday. Father Jerome Krug spoke in his homily about how shocked he is every year to see parishes full on Ash Wednesday. 

“I don’t get it,” he said. “How come people come in droves to have dirt put on their face?” 

He continued by observing how people know, deep down, that if God doesn’t exist, “this life is meaningless, that it’s like a cup of dirt,” he said, pointing to the ashes that moments later, were distributed. 

He challenged the community to do two things for Lent. 

“If you’re not already going to Sunday Mass, that’s No. 1,” he said, “You need that nourishment. Don’t just go when it feels good or you have time. Make the time.” 

He concluded by encouraging students to simply find a few minutes each day for prayer. 

“Prayer is nourishment,” he stressed. 

Katie Bertels, campus minister, has also been leading students and staff in the Liturgy of the Hours before and after school, leaving little wiggle room in the chapel pews since the beginning of Lent.

Emma Bowman is a senior at Mount St. Mary Catholic High School.

Photo: Student Council presented the final check of more than $12,000 to Citizens Caring for Children. Photo provided.