Curt Sidorski, Ministry Lead for the Marianist Encounters Project at St. Mary's High School, St. Louis, MO, sends us these updates. See below St. Mary's prayer pledges and MFEP day of action activities.
The students at St. Mary's High School, St. Louis, MO, have committed themselves to advancing the goals of the MFEP. As part of this, the students took the opportunity to examine their ecological and social conscience and pledged themselves to take specific and sustainable actions. At an all-school prayer ceremony, students presented and offered their pledges and commitment to the cross. Next year, this cross will serve as a visible and present reminder to our community that we have all pledged ourselves to do something.
On May 12th, 2023, the entire community of St. Mary's, students and staff, participated in an afternoon of action in connection with the MFEP. Some of our students were off campus cleaning up and removing a truckload of waste from the Mississippi River. Other students lent a hand in helping the community unload electric waste for the e-waste recycling drive St. Mary's sponsored and hosted. Still, others broke a sweat removing invasive species, such as bush honeysuckle, from our campus or adventuring out into our immediate community of Dutchtown to pick up litter. Finally, other members of our student body and staff chose to participate in educational activities learning about recycling and the need to reduce single-use plastics, investigating waste and the environmental impact of the food system, or learning how to repurpose and reuse waste materials to create small gardens. It proved to be a glorious and fruitful afternoon.