The 7th grade students from Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis spent the year studying social justice issues. They wished to share what they had learned about victims of injustice and motivate the community to get involved, so they hosted a Social Justice Week at the parish school and a Social Justice Festival after each mass one weekend in late May.

Greg Rohde, Director of Parish Social Ministries for St. Louis Catholic Charities, discusses the Social Justice Festival with a student.

During their studies, the students learned the principles of CST and considered what it means to affirm that all are sisters and brothers of Jesus Christ. They examined the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and discussed what it means to be part of the family of humanity, and how denying human rights is a crime against humanity and a sin against God’s people – something to which they must respond. They identified the differences between charity and justice, and brainstormed ways they can make a difference in the world by practicing both. Through the experience, they developed a commitment to be moved by the sufferings of others, to live as brothers and sisters of Christ and members of one world family, and invite their school and parish community to join them.

The students engaged in WebQuest studies on social justice issues, designed by the pastor Fr. Beighlie, and worked through case studies on the issues which they presented and discussed. They created action plan proposals to tackle specific injustices, not just alleviate their symptoms. The action plan which they decided to undertake was to host a Social Justice Week at the parish school which included a Mass, collection for the local food pantry, day on recycling with a petition eliminating the use of Styrofoam (signed by nearly all students in the school), and demonstrations and simulations on the topics of education and criminal justice.

The culmination of Social Justice Week was the carnival at the parish which featured a number of learning games. Each booth featured a specific issue and all proceeds were contributed to agencies supporting these causes. The games included a Cake Walk for Women’s Rights, a Ring In Human Trafficking Toss, Shooting Hoops to Sink Illiteracy, Ambulance Race for Health Care, Fish Trash from the Duckpond and many more. Students provided factsheets they had created based on their research on the issues and on Catholic social teaching broadly. That night, they ate simple meals from the food pantry and constructed cardboard houses to sleep in at night to simulate a homeless camp.

The Social Justice Festival builds on last year’s activities, in which the 7^th grade students undertook a “Box City Project” in which they researched issues around poverty, hunger and homelessness, then hosted a 24-hour immersion experience for their fellow students and the parish, spending the night in boxes and eating simple donated foods while raising money for local charities. You can read their research and their process, via a narrative accompanied by photos, on the parish website.

Learn more about the Social Justice Week and carnival.

Tags: Archdiocese of St. Louis, awareness, Catholic Social Teaching, criminal justice, domestic violence, environmental stewardship, homelessness, human trafficking, illiteracy, immersion, Social Justice Festival, youth

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 at 10:34 am and is filed under Announcements, Roundtable Report, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.