Soon-to-be grads extend helping hands
Rockhurst High School seniors spent most of January serving others here and abroad. Devoting the first month of their final semester to service projects is a 47-year-old tradition at the all-boys Jesuit college preparatory school. Since 1972, Rockhurst seniors have donated more than 665,000 hours to over 80 area agencies.
“That it’s one of the longest-running programs at Rockhurst says quite a bit about us,” says Principal Greg Harkness. “We educate our students to be men for others. I’m particularly proud of them for the work they do these three weeks.”
This year’s 220 seniors gave 23,100-plus service hours to 63 local charities and two far-off communities in varied activities. A sampling of agencies served by 169 Rockhurst seniors were Ability KC, Catholic Charities Turnstyles, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, Don Bosco ESL Center, Morning Glory Ministries and Operation Breakthrough.
“There are always more agencies with more needs than we have students for,” says Alan Ratermann, director of Ignatian Service at Rockhurst. “We would love to fill every spot.”
In Guatemala, 29 students built and stocked chicken coops, installed and ventilated stoves, delivered family care packages and visited homes. The seniors and their chaperones left Kansas City Jan. 10 and returned Jan. 17. They were hosted by a group of indigenous nuns at Carmelo de Nazareth, a convent in San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango.
“They’re a very joyful group that always takes good care of us. It’s a wonderful place,” says Ratermann who planned the trip.
Constructing homes for families in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico occupied 22 Rockhurst seniors. Their primary jobs were digging foundations and setting perimeter blocks. The Esperanza International Foundation arranged the mission and housed the students at La Posada Esperanza, just minutes south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The students left Kansas City Jan. 13 and returned Jan. 19.
Luke Hupke was on that trip, drawn by both the destination and mission.
“I know there’s a ton of work that can be done here in Kansas City, but Tijuana has been in the news so much, I thought it would be special to go and experience firsthand how people live,” he says.
Hupke doesn’t regret his choice. It was a memorable, illuminating, educational experience. The seniors worked alongside families who’ll occupy the houses they were building, and the family prepared lunch daily in the dilapidated dwellings they’ve called home. The “made-from-scratch, traditional meals were phenomenal.”
In working closely with the Tijuanans, the seniors learned about local culture as well as construction. Not all students spoke Spanish, but Hupke says there wasn’t a language barrier. He appreciates the experience.
“I absolutely loved everything about it,” he says. “I felt such a sense of joy in being able to work alongside some of my best friends and teachers and the people we were there to help. They taught us a lot. It was truly a special experience.”
The process for selecting organizations for senior service begins each summer. Rockhurst publishes an invitation asking area charities if they’d like to be considered. Ratermann then compiles a list and invites interested organizations to a service fair when school starts. The groups describe their needs and mission and meet students.
“The ultimate decision is in the hands of the seniors,” Ratermann says.
Harkness was on the Tijuana trip.
He says, “It’s a great experience for someone who’s been teaching over 30 years to see the next generation of these faith-filled, compassionate, generous young men.”
Hurtado Scholars Program
The $14,100 tuition to Rockhurst High School puts enrollment out of reach for many students attending urban diocesan grade schools. But beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the Hurtado Scholars Program began offering select fifth-graders the opportunity to study for admission. For two and a half years, they work toward earning a merit-based, needs-based scholarship.
Scholars are nominated by their principals at one of three Kansas City, Mo., Catholic elementary schools: Holy Cross, Our Lady of Hope and St. John Francis Regis.
During the current school year, there are 10 first-year Hurtado Scholars in the 6th grade, 13 in 7th grade, eight in 8th grade, seven freshmen and eight sophomores. Next school year, Rockhurst’s graduating class will include members of the first class of Hurtado Scholars. The seven, who are currently juniors are in the process of looking at the next level, says Marvin Grilliot, Hurtado Scholars Program director. “They’re all definitely considering post-secondary education.”
The 8th-grade Hurtado Scholars have taken the Rockhurst admissions placement test and applied for the 2019-2020 school year. Grilliot anticipates their acceptance and will begin discussing prospective Hurtado Scholars with participating school principals at the end of March. The program will accept 10 students who will complete 5th grade this spring.
“It’s exciting that our pioneer class is beginning the process of thinking about college,” Grilliot says. “Most of them would be the first in their families to go to college.”
