Faith in Action
An important part of the religious formation of students at San Carlos School is the focus on Catholic social teaching, social justice, and responding to the call of the Gospel. Students learn to spread the love of Christ by being the hands and feet of Jesus in this world by sharing their blessings.
Each grade level plans and implements a service project to aid in the work of a community agency or parish during the school year. Projects specifically support a diverse range of needs to introduce students to the many opportunities of giving in which they can participate once they graduate from San Carlos School.
Projects by Grade Level
TK & Kindergarten
Transitional Kindergarten students have participated in the “HUG project”, made an Angel tree for those needing prayers, routinely made cards for families battling cancer in our community, and hidden painted “Love Rocks” to spread love throughout the school and community. Kindergarten projects range from making placemats for “Meals on Wheels” to contributing to "The Crayon Initiative” to assisting “Cleaning the Earth”.
First Grade
First Grade class has held a “Teddy Bear Drive” for the Monterey Fire Department and a book drive for Community Partnership for Youth, as well as supported the Monterey Library and Book Mobile in efforts to emphasize the need for literacy in their service learning.
Second Grade
Students focus on the community through projects such as “gleaming” food from our Salinas fields for those in need, choosing a specific person in need to offer a “blessing” of prayers and special gifts to support their journey, and helping families fighting cancer with “baskets” of plenty to offer kindness and prayer.
Third Grade
Students focus on those with food insecurities by participating in the United Way Interfaith program “I-HELP.” Some projects have included supplying everything needed for breakfast for women and children enrolled in a family program, preparing placemats and food for their pantry, and making individual lunches for the men in the work program. Over 60 Monterey-area churches and other faith communities and service organizations provide meals on a rotating basis once a month in the I-Help program.
Fourth Grade
Students focus on God's creation and connect with animals needing warmth, care, and shelter. Their current efforts are making blankets from tied fleece for comfort and warmth and sock toys for play in support of animals at our local SPCA. They often can meet and visit with those who run the programs to learn more about this humane and important outreach.
Fifth Grade
Students provided bag lunches monthly for the rotating enrollment of thirty-two men enrolled in the “I-HELP” work program. The lunches are made and blessed by students in class with student-made prayer cards enclosed to encourage those receiving the meal. Over 60 Monterey-area churches and other faith communities and service organizations created the “I-HELP” organization to provide, on a rotating basis, overnight accommodations, warm meals, and person-to-person support for homeless men.
Sixth Grade
Students have been involved in a variety of outreach activities that support those across the world. Through the “Box of Joy” program, students led the school to give gifts to children in need from Guatemala, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Paper cranes were also folded by students and given to local hospital patients to promote peace and recovery and support for patients inspired by the novel, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Recently, the class has focused on our military families and offered an assembly to honor, learn from, and celebrate community military members (active, nonactive, and retired) on Veterans Day including thank you cards and breakfast provided by the students.
Seventh Grade
Students focus on their peers in their service learning project. In an effort to understand, support, and empathize with children facing difficult medical procedures and long medical stays, the class works with “Project Linus” to create wonderfully warm and soft fleece blankets as gifts for children in the hospital. The blankets are lovingly created by our student “blanketeers” and transported to Stanford Hospital for distribution.
Eighth Grade
Eighth Graders vote at the beginning of the school year for their focus. Past projects included “Kindness Rocks” for Santa Rosa and Paradise, CA; a schoolwide book collection with personalized bookplates benefiting “Guilianna’s Playroom” in Texas for at-risk families through “The Live Greater Foundation”; preparing bagged lunches for “Loaves and Fishes”; collection of winter items and non-perishable foods for “Dorothy’s Place” in Salinas; “Prayer Bouquets” for those battling serious illness in the SCS community; and “Walk to Serve” to benefit a charity of their choice. Past recipients have been the Susan G. Komen Breast Care Foundation, Veteran's Transitions Center, and Ohana Foundation to support mental health.
Staff
The school staff has participated in Relay For Life to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, Loaves and Fishes Parish Outreach, SCS Tuition Fund for hardship family situations, and Catholic Relief Services Outreach.
Student and staff-inspired Projects
Each year, student leaders step up and request help for communities and events close to their hearts in addition to our planned service projects. Past impromptu service projects have included: in-school recycling programs with money donated to adult care centers, “Save the Elephants”, “Socks for the Homeless”, Military care packages, and classroom libraries. As stated in our school song: “We’re the emblem of - the school we love. We reach out a helping hand. If there is a need or a special plea we are there to lend a hand. You can see for yourself that we’re eager to help. We have spirit, talent, and style!”
Student Council
Student Council members are called upon to act as tour guides during our school open houses and to assist with other school-wide assemblies and events. Students volunteer as speakers at all local parishes to kick off our annual Catholic Schools Week Celebration in January.
School-wide and Parish Projects
The San Carlos School Community commits to a Thanksgiving Food Drive each year. The goal is to fill the principal’s office with bags of groceries so that she cannot reach her desk. Food collected is distributed to all food cupboards on the Monterey Peninsula (i.e., St. Francis, St. Angela Merici, San Carlos Cathedral Loaves and Fishes, St. Jude).
Our school community also supports Catholic Relief Services (CRS) during Lent, and the parish group “Care for Creation” with Saturday Beach Clean-ups when available.
