It is hard to believe that we are already well into the month of August. But, when you see all that our students and parish have done, you will realize that it is a great summer of 2016! We are always busy, with field trips (SUP, Kings Dominion, National Harbor bike ride), WorkCamps, weekly drop-in and soccer and VBS. If you haven't joined us yet, you still have a few more weeks for Faith, Fellowship and Fun!
Middle School WorkCamp - a glimpse inside
| This year's Middle School WorkCamp is a great success. Tomorrow, August 10, marks the final day of service projects in our local community. We have a great group of high school and adult leaders and could not have performed our service projects without them. To get a better grasp of WHAT we actually DO during MSWC, we asked one of our adult leaders, Laura Juricic, to provide a brief recap from her site on Monday: "Today at the Nature reserve we learn about caring for God's creation by identifying and removing invasive species of plants. This lovely park is in the heart of Alexandria and free for anyone looking for a bit of solitude in our busy world. Our guide was knowledgeable and patient as he took us through the park pointing out native plants and creatures. We ate lunch in the science room and spent some time looking at the exhibits before heading out to see if we could beat our morning record of 27 pounds of trash and weeds--we did collecting nearly 33 pounds for a total of 60 pounds of unwanted debris in a beautiful natural setting. Our last half hour was spent honing our balance and rock skipping skills in the stream." |  MSWC High School Leaders 2016  60 lbs of trash and invasive plant species collected.  Some downtime. |
International Festival, September 5
The International Festival is fast approaching! Join us on Monday, September 5 from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm. COme to enjoy the games, food and festivities and stay to help volunteer. There are numerous volunteer opportunities throughout the day, including Youth Ministry's 9-Square Booth. Make sure you visit the teen table to pick up your free Youth Ministry t-shirt before they are all gone.
WorkCamp & VBS Recap
WOW! We have a fantastic group of teens at Good Shepherd. The Youth Ministry team is bursting with pride after a successful WorkCamp and a great week of Vacation Bible School.
WorkCamp had a fantastic turnout of both student and adult volunteers. We enjoyed a great evening with Father Tom when he visited and joined our group discussion on Tuesday night and then said Mass on Wednesday morning. The teens decided they wanted to mix up their discussion groups each day, so we grabbed a deck of cards and broke the teens down by suits. In the end, everyone enjoyed the many different perspectives among our teens. But the week wasn't just fun and games, there was some real hard work and long hours out in the sun. We even had some teens and adults return after WorkCamp finished to help finish a challenging project.
VBS also had a great Youth Ministry representation. Each year we have more teen volunteers and the VBS week is truly run by the teens. They lead the individual "family" groups, serve as Master of Ceremonies, help in the kitchens and man the booths in our "Egyptian" village. The event was a huge success and the young kids truly enjoyed themselves.
WorkCamp had a fantastic turnout of both student and adult volunteers. We enjoyed a great evening with Father Tom when he visited and joined our group discussion on Tuesday night and then said Mass on Wednesday morning. The teens decided they wanted to mix up their discussion groups each day, so we grabbed a deck of cards and broke the teens down by suits. In the end, everyone enjoyed the many different perspectives among our teens. But the week wasn't just fun and games, there was some real hard work and long hours out in the sun. We even had some teens and adults return after WorkCamp finished to help finish a challenging project.
VBS also had a great Youth Ministry representation. Each year we have more teen volunteers and the VBS week is truly run by the teens. They lead the individual "family" groups, serve as Master of Ceremonies, help in the kitchens and man the booths in our "Egyptian" village. The event was a huge success and the young kids truly enjoyed themselves.
Youth Ministry KickOff Dinner, September 11
All Middle and High School teens are invite to the Youth Ministry KickOff dinner on September 11 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. Come and join us for great food and games, plus meet some of the other teens and learn about all our plans for the 2016/2017 school year.
2minutes2virtue
2minutes2virtue is a weekly video series put out by The Office for Family Life geared toward Catholics who want to get the most out of the Sunday readings. A new video is sent out via email or can be seen on YouTube and ends by giving you a challenge for the week. As you take on each challenge, plan some time to reflect on your successes and all the ways you can live your Christian mission more fully! Challenge your teens to sign up here and start a conversation about the virtues today.
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