Immersion Program
2012-2013 Schedule
Campus Ministry offers several immersion opportunities available to Saint Francis High School students who are current Juniors and Seniors. These trips are for the student who wants more out of their service opportunities. In most cases they will have an opportunity to live in or near the community they serve. They will do everything together in community. Each trip will have time set aside for prayer. Each day the group will have time for the participants to process the events experienced and information acquired. One or more Saint Francis High School faculty or staff persons will accompany each group.
The descriptions below are meant to help the students and their parents discern which immersion experience will best fit the needs of the student.
Winter Immersion Experiences
NorCal Plunge:
San Jose (Juniors and Seniors)
Offered twice: January 11-12, 2013 and
March 8 – 9, 2013
During this immersion experience, students will be working with Sacred Heart Community Services in an intense two day immersion experience. Students will work in the pantry, clothing closet as well as participate in a homeless solidarity exercise to experience a day in the life of the homeless.
SoCal Plunge:
Dolores Mission Immersion (Juniors and Seniors)
January 17 - 20, 2013
During this winter program, students will travel to East Los Angeles, California. Students and faculty supervisors will stay on the third floor at Dolores Mission Parish School and spend the long weekend in intense service. Students will work with the Guadalupe Housing Project preparing and serving meals to shelter residents, visit Homeboy Industries and Homeboy Silk Screening and work with the children of the parish school through an afterschool program. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Easter Break Immersion Experience
New Orleans Immersion (Juniors and Seniors)
Dates: April 1 – 6, 2013
During this Easter break program, students will help with the clean up and restoration of “Hurricane Katrina” damaged homes, working with local agencies dedicated to the rebuilding of the city of New Orleans. Students will learn skills to aid the rebuilding process in the area. The immersion will also investigate the social justice issues Hurricane Katrina unmasked in the New Orleans area. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Summer Immersion Experiences
Appalachia Immersion (Juniors)
Dates: June 1 - 8, 2013
During this summer program, students will be working with the Saint Joseph Housing Repair Program which is an outreach of St. Joseph Parish in Clintwood Virginia. The people living in the community have been greatly impacted by the coal, gas and timber industries and by absentee ownership. There is extreme poverty and land and water devastation in the area. Saint Joseph's is one of several parishes in the area that has formed a ministerial association to meet some of the needs of the local residents. The housing program offers low-income people home repairs and an opportunity for groups, like Saint Francis, to come into the area and learn about the social, political, economical and cultural aspects of life in central Appalachia while performing some much needed home repairs. Students will stay at the Dorothy Baker House, which is on the church property. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Chile Immersion (Juniors)
Dates: June 1 – June 9, 2013
During this program, students will work to support the Holy Cross Fathers in their missions located in Santiago, Chile (at Parroquia San Roque and Foundation Moreau: Homes for Children). Each day, time will be set-aside for prayer and processing of the day's events. There will also be an opportunity for students to visit culturally significant locations in the Santiago area. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Coachella Summer Bible Camp (Juniors)
Dates: TBD
This is an intense experience of working with children living in the Coachella Valley. Students will lead activities and be camp counselors during a week long summer bible camp that is run out of Our Lady of Soledad Parish in Coachella, California. Students will stay at the Church along with the Saint Francis adult chaperone. Applicants must be willing to work, play and pray together. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
El Salvador Immersion Trip (Juniors)
June 9 – June 18, 2013
Students will live with families in the small village of Guarjila. Students will work, play, pray and share their experiences with a youth group called the Tamarindos. The group will also travel to San Salvador to visit culturally significant places such as the University of Central America where the Jesuit priests were murdered, Archbishop Romero’s house and the cathedral where he is buried and the shops of local artisans. Each day there is time for prayer and processing of the day’s events. Knowing some Spanish is helpful, but not necessary. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Holy Cross Immersion – Notre Dame High School,
Sherman Oaks, CA (Juniors)
June 10 – June 14, 2013
Five students and Saint Francis chaperone(s) and adults from the five other Holy Cross School in the former Southwest Province will travel to Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. This will be an intense experience of service work and living in Christian community with students from four other Holy Cross High School. This is an opportunity that includes learning about the common values experienced by students in Holy Cross High Schools, combined with service to the local area where we are staying. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Brazil Immersion (Juniors)
Dates: June 10 – June 18, 2013
Students will work to support the Holy Cross Brothers in their missions located in Campinas, Brazil (affiliated with Parõquia São José de Jaguaré and Colégio Notre Dame de Campinas). Each day, time will be set-aside for prayer and processing of the day's events. There will also be an opportunity for students to visit culturally significant locations in the Campinas area. Student will stay, together, on the campus of Colégio Notre Dame de Campinas. Students will work with a variety of organizations, including working at the two CECOIA community centers (run by the Brothers of Holy Cross). Students will have the opportunity to connect with other Holy Cross students from the Colégio de Notre Dame as well as learn about the culture, economy and community. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Holy Cross Montreal Pilgrimage (Juniors)
Dates: July 8 – 12, 2013
This time of prayer and reflection will be open to all Catholic junior students in Holy Cross schools throughout the United States. The primary focus of the Pilgrimage is on St. Joseph’s Oratory and the life of St. Brother André. Although students will have heard about his life and participated in school prayer services, seeing the Oratory in person and joining pilgrims from other countries deepens their knowledge and experience of this humble servant of God. We are housed at the College Jean-de-Brebeuf, a Jesuit school in Montreal that rents out its dorms to groups over the summer. The College is only a few blocks from the Oratory.
Chinese Language and Cultural Immersion
Sponsored by the academic department, Saint Francis offers a Chinese language and culture immersion trip to Shenzhen, China each summer. More Information