Published: April 22, 2008 06:43 pm            

SERVICE: St. Francis Society looks for kids who will do the little things

DeSales students help out where ever they can

St. Francis Society



• SCHOOL: DeSales Catholic School

• ADVISERS: Ellen Roth, Mary Jo Bauer

• WHAT THEY’RE ABOUT: Student service organization that volunteers at school functions

• WHAT FUNCTIONS: Annual golf tournament, alumni events



There’s a group of students at DeSales Catholic School in Lockport that is making a big impact on the community by just doing the small things to help.

The St. Francis Society is a student organization that represents DeSales by performing service work anytime they can. The students have to be exemplary in both their schoolwork and their personal conduct. Beginning about five years ago, the St. Francis Society is comprised of seventh and eighth grade students.

“It sprang from the fact that the development office does a lot of alumni relations and special events,” said Ellen Roth, one of the society’s advisers. “I was constantly seeking out middle school students to help out with these events. I found I was going back to the same kids, and often I was picking kids who didn’t really want to be there. I figured there had to be a way to find the kids who do want to help, and there are a lot of them, and give them a chance to do so.”

Roth and Mary Jo Bauer, the faculty moderator for the St. Francis Society, started the group and invited students to join. It’s strictly a service organization, Roth said, it is not an honor society, although students are expected to maintain good grades.

The members help out at events such as an annual golf tournament, alumni events, masses and a number of different events at the school. Society members help out by doing little things such as stuffing envelopes, or larger things such as giving tours of the school for alumni reunions.

Sixth grade students are invited during the year to join St. Francis as seventh graders. To join, students have to approach Bauer for an application, and write an essay. Members have to sign a contract, and then there’s a ceremony. The new members take an oath to do what is right. While it is not an elite group, they can lose the privilege.

“They’re held to a higher standard,” Bauer said. “They handle it very well. They want to help.”

Wanting to help is true according to some of the members of the group.

“I like to help out, and members get to do that,” said eighth grader Jenna LaRose.

“I like the volunteer opportunities we talk about,” Meredith McCaffrey, a seventh grader, said.

But it’s not all work, the St. Francis Society does have some fun.

“It gives a chance to give back to the community,” said seventh grader Corey Retell. “But you get to hang out with friends and helping is fun.”

“It is a good thing for a future college or something,” said Braden Scales, an eighth grader. “I liked helping out at the golf tournament and going to the country club.”

The society is named after the school’s patron saint, St. Francis DeSales. A prayer that is often said at the school sums up what the St. Francis Society is all about. The prayer is about doing the best one can while trying to make a difference and doing whatever is needed.

“They’re not doing monumental Earth shattering kind of jobs, they’re helping out in little ways that are important,” Roth said. “They’re student ambassadors.”

Contact reporter Joe Olenick

at 439-9222, ext. 6241.

        

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