Christian Service Program
Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18
Our Catholic faith calls us to love through action, to seek truth, to be servant leaders.
The Christian Service Program at Badin High School invites our students to do just that.
The Christian Service Program at Badin High School is an intentional four-year program that invites students to actively live out the teachings of Christ, to engage in conversations of the Gospel’s call for justice, to become other-centered in a culture that focuses primarily on self. Students are encouraged to grow in their awareness of social justice issues and to participate in meaningful service experiences, bettering both themselves and our community in the process. Our hope is that students will deepen their faith through the experiences of service, and will gain an understanding of the call to practice generosity, to pursue justice, and to serve in solidarity.
Each academic year has a theme and an action plan, and participation fulfills the service graduation requirement. Service hours are encouraged, though are not required (with the exception of the Junior and Senior Year Action Plan), and are recorded through an online service platform (www.InnerView.org) that allows students to create a service profile and to be acknowledged for service to their school, to their parish, and to the nonprofit world. Participation in existing programs, such as Shantytown, the Magnified Giving Club, Meet.Serve.Grow., and Summer in Solidarity is also encouraged.
The format of Badin’s Christian Service Program is as follows:
The Freshman Year Theme is AWARENESS, and the Action Plan is participation in interactive educational experiences at Badin during Awareness Week during the first quarter and Awareness Days during the following three quarters. These experiences invite students to think and talk about the social justice issues faced in our community and in our world. Awareness Week begins with the question, “How is my world different than the rest?” and then explores specific issues of injustice in our society with activities and small group discussions. The Awareness Days that follow continue to look at social justice issues in our country and in the greater world, asking students to think critically about the cause and effect of such issues. It is our hope that the AWARENESS program of the freshman year will begin each student’s story of service as they come to recognize the needs of others and begin to contemplate their responsibility to respond.
The Sophomore Year Theme is CALL TO ACTION, and the Action Plan introduces students to local nonprofits that are serving the issues faced, inviting them to hear the call that awareness invokes and to discover how to use their own gifts through action. Each student will participate in an Urban Action Day, spending a day serving at nonprofits in Over the Rhine and reflecting on that experience through large and small group activities. Students will learn about specific issues that affect Cincinnati and will see how nonprofits work to address those issues through action and advocacy, and they will be encouraged to reflect on their own response to God’s call to be a person for others. We will then host a Service Fair at Badin where students will be introduced to many local nonprofits and will have the opportunity to research agencies of interest where they might begin serving. It is the hope that the sophomore year of CALL TO ACTION will inspire students to think about their own passions and gifts and to discover how they can use those gifts for the good of others.
The Junior Year Theme is RELATIONSHIP, and the Action Plan invites students to commit to serve at one non profit agency for a minimum of twenty hours over the course of their Junior Year, building the kind of relationship that responds to the Gospel’s call for justice, that builds community, that creates change. Students choose an agency that addresses an issue that matters to them, they participate in service that utilizes their own unique gifts, and they work to build relationship with the people they serve. This kind of lasting partnership practiced through the RELATIONSHIP Action Plan not only better benefits the agency and the people they serve by providing consistent support, but it also allows the student to learn through relationship, to develop compassion for those who are in need, and to put love into action for the causes they believe in, just as we are called to do in the Gospel.
Finally, the Senior Year Theme will be SERVANT LEADERSHIP, and the Action Plan will ask students to lead through service with a final project for their selected agency, putting into action all they have learned and experienced through service thus far. This is a small-group cross-curricular project with Religion, English, and History, that will invite students to work with each other and with community members to engage in research, advocacy, and service that might better our corner of the world. Groups will design and implement a SERVANT LEADERSHIP PROJECT that will meet a specific need of the agency, and they will present their research and explain their project at the Stang Symposium in the spring to faculty, parents, and community members, sharing their experiences and their findings through a multimedia presentation. Our hope is that this senior year experience will better enable and encourage our students to become engaged community members and leaders who find their own way to contribute generously to our world.
Each year of Badin’s Christian Service Program will build upon the last, giving our students another opportunity to “THINK. ACHIEVE. SERVE. LEAD.” As our students engage in service and earn their service graduation requirement through participation in the program, we hope they will grow in their faith, learn about the issues of the world around them, and contribute to the betterment of our community. Please contact Mrs. Megan Halverson, Service Coordinator at Badin High School, at mhalverson@BadinHS.org for more information.
Through “Meet. Serve. Grow.”we get to know the nonprofit agencies that are helping our community! Once a month, we will meet after school and head to a local nonprofit together, so that we can meet the director, learn about the issues faced, and participate in service. 2022/23 Meet.Serve.Grow. events will be at Tikkun Farm, the Community Meal Center, Shared Harvest, and more!
Magnified Giving is a club at Badin that is about making a difference–learning about our community, giving back, and practicing generosity. The club will learn about issues of injustice in our community, and will get to know the agencies that work to address those issues and bring our community together. At the end of the year, our club will provide a $1000 grant to a nonprofit agency deemed most worthy! Magnified Giving is a great way to meet other people and to get involved in our Service Programs.
Our once-a-month Service@School events give us the chance to do service together and give back to our community without having to leave Badin! We “get together here, so we can help them there”! From making plarn for Open Hands Pantry to creating t-shirt bags for the Community Meal Center to writing notes to those in the nursing home–we find a way to reach out, and we have fun doing it!
DIG is our club about DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, and GROWTH. Our goal is to create a safe space to talk about issues of diversity, to bring people together, and to make Badin a better place for all minorities. Join us to dig a little deeper, to raise awareness, and to build community!
Badin Service Movie Nights happen once each quarter, giving our students the chance to learn about an issue we meet in service through a movie, a themed dinner, and conversation. This year our movies will address Hispanic Heritage, Native American History, Black History Month, and Mental Health Awareness. This is a great way to gather together, have fun, and learn outside of the classroom.
Badin Action Days happen when the students of Badin High School connect with a local non-profit and create a service project that will meet a pressing need of that agency. Gathering a large number of students and inviting faculty, staff, parents, and alumni, will allow for real action to be taken. The more hands and hearts we have involved, the more good we can do in just one day! In 2022/23 we hope to partner with Sleep in Heavenly Peace and SELF for Badin Action Days that will positively impact our community!
Shantytown is an annual event that raises awareness for the issue of homelessness. By listening to speakers, participating in small group activities, and sleeping outside at Badin, students gain an understanding of poverty, hunger, and homelessness, as they exists in our community today. Shantytown 2022 will take place from Thursday, November 10th to Friday, November 11th!
"Summer in Solidarity" is our service trip program that offers students the opportunity to serve in a new way, immersing themselves in a new place and time, without the everyday distractions of the school year. We host four trips each summer, inviting students to be with and to pay deeper attention to people in the world living a life much different than their own. Trips are based on four cornerstones: community, simplicity, service, and prayer, and are incredible experiences of learning to live in solidarity. Locations differ each year, but have included Indiana, West Virginia, Missouri, Alabama, South Dakota, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. Information about the 2023 trips will be available at the Information Meeting for Parents and Students on Sunday, November 13th, at 7:00pm, in the Commons.
The Service Leadership Board works to create opportunities of service for our students that are relevant, inspiring, and beneficial to the disadvantaged of our community. The Board is comprised of students in their junior or senior year who have a passion for social justice and service, and who want to work to spread awareness throughout the Badin community of the value of service and the importance of generosity and justice.
Members of our Service Leadership Board coordinate Ongoing Service Opportunities at several local nonprofits. From Hamilton Living Water Ministry and The Boys and Girls Club of Hamiltonand The YMCA’s BTW Community Center, providing service to local youth through mentorship at after school programs, to supporting young families through service with YoungLives, to spending time with the residents of Westover Retirement Community or feeding the hungry at The Community Meal Center--there are many opportunities to serve in a unique way. Go once to learn more or go every week to gain experience and build relationship--find the place that matters most to you and use your gifts through service! There is also a new initiative in 2021/2022 called "S@S" (Service @ School), where we will be doing a different service project once every month after school at Badin (to make it fun and easy to participate!) that will benefit a local nonprofit. From making blankets for Sleep in Heavenly Peace to decorating bookmarks for the kids in Big Brothers Big Sisters to making sandwiches for the Live the Good event with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur--we will gather after school in the Commons and work together to make a difference for those in need. You can find details and sign up for all service opportunities on InnerView, our online service platform. See Mrs. Halverson to find out what service would be a good fit for you!
As our students engage in service, we hope they will grow in their faith, learn about the issues of the world around them, and contribute to the betterment of our community.
Follow us on Instagram @badinhs_service to find out what’s happening!
Questions regarding the Service Program at Badin can be directed to Mrs. Megan Halverson, the Christian Service Coordinator, at mhalverson@BadinHS.org.