Spirit, mind and body – the commitment to the education of the whole person is one of the facets of Catholic education. In the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Catholic schools’ emphasis on academic excellence is rivaled only by their emphasis on service.
Serve, appreciate, love and teach has been a component of Saint Eugene Catholic School’s curriculum since 2018. S.A.L.T. was implemented as a resource to foster an early love for service by focusing on a specific, age-appropriate theme throughout the school year. From PreK to eighth grade, students study lessons related to their theme, culminating in a school-wide day of service. On April 1, students from Saint Eugene spent the day serving the community.Caring for living things/God’s creations: PreK students spent the day planting flower seeds around the school campus and making flowerpots for church staff members while kindergarteners made donations to animals at Martin Park Nature Center.
Caring about education: First graders learned about their church’s religious education program, created Earth Day posters for The Village library and assembled garden gift bags.
Caring for the sick: Second graders toured Bethany Children’s Health Center and decorated the sidewalk with messages of encouragement to patients.
Poverty and homelessness: Third graders learned about available programs at The Sharing Tree in Moore and organized products for shoppers.
Ending hunger: Fourth graders visited Catholic Charities to learn about the services they provide and assist with food donations.
Caring for older friends: Fifth grade students made friends with residents at Saint Ann Retirement Center and played bingo.
Respect and ability awareness: Sixth graders delivered Easter baskets to residents at the Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled.
Human and civil rights: Seventh graders gathered and delivered clothing for Afghan refugees their own age and assembled Ramadan Mubarak kits with the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Supporting veterans and active-duty service members: Eighth graders played games and chatted with veterans at the Norman Veterans Center.
Kim Hattaway, a Saint Eugene parent and employee, described S.A.L.T. as the underpinning of a Catholic education.
“I love that we focus on this all year long; it's not just a one-day event,” Hattaway said.
Guest speakers and smaller projects are typical in the months leading up to the day of service. Guest speakers from The Spero Project visited with seventh graders to talk about refugees in Oklahoma.
“The students aren’t just learning about doing good works, they are getting out there to serve,” she said.
Brigitte Silvernail and Colleen de Keratry serve together as S.A.L.T. co-chairwomen. The idea came to fruition after de Keratry learned about a similar program in Chicago.
“The idea is to educate students about the theme, provide opportunities for them to take action and encourage prayer and reflection,” Silvernail stated. “It’s a concrete way for students to demonstrate love for their neighbor, and see how their faith relates to serving others, so they carry it forward the rest of their lives.”
Student Laurenne Ouedraogo said, “We went to Saint Ann to play bingo with the seniors. At first, I was nervous, but then I found it fun, even though I didn’t win. In the end, I didn’t want to leave.”
In addition to learning about their specific theme, students at each grade level researched a saint that is relevant to the theme. Throughout the year, students shared their knowledge with their peers by presenting the information to the school.
Silvernail and de Keratry noted that S.A.L.T. provides intentional opportunities for students – and their parents – to be active in the community.
Susan Ison, faith formation facilitator at Saint Eugene, explained that for students, another important aspect of S.A.L.T. is ownership.
“Students are involved in the planning process of their service projects, they brainstorm to figure out how they can help and what they can do, including researching organizations,” Ison said. “Our hope is that when they leave here to go to high school, they see the importance of service and carry it with them.”
For more information, visit steugeneschool.org/salt-csse.
Sally Linhart is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Students and staff from St. Eugene Catholic School participated in a Day of Service on April 1 at St. Ann Retirement Center and different locations in Oklahoma City. Photos Avery Holt/ Sooner Catholic.