Immersion Programs 2008
This year there will be 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 family discern which immersion experience will best fit the needs of the student.
Immersion Programs by date
Brazil Immersion (Juniors & Seniors)
Dates: March 24 – April 1, 2008
Cost of Trip: $1,700 (includes airfare)
During this alternative spring break, students will work to support the Holy Cross Fathers in their missions located in São Paulo, Brazil (affiliated with Parõquia São José de Jaguaré and Colégio Santa Cruz). 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 São Paulo area. The trip is open to a maximum of ten students with two-three Saint Francis adult leaders. Applications will be accepted from Juniors and Seniors. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
Chile Immersion (Juniors & Seniors)
Dates: March 24 – April 1, 2008
Cost of Trip: $1,700 (includes airfare)
During this alternative spring break, 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. The trip is open to a maximum of ten students with two Saint Francis adult leaders. At least one year of Spanish is required. Applications will be accepted from Juniors and Seniors. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
New Orleans Immersion (Juniors & Seniors)
Dates: March 24 – 30, 2008
Cost of Trip: $850 (includes airfare)
During this alternative spring break, students will help with the clean up and restoration of “Hurricane Katrina” damaged homes in St. Bernard Parish in New Orleans. The St. Bernard Project will organize the service. Students will learn skills to aid the rebuilding process in the area. Students will be housed at Loyola University. The immersion will also investigate the social justice issues Hurricane Katrina unmasked in the New Orleans area. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
San Jose Immersion (Juniors only)
June 9 – 13, 2008
Cost of trip: $250
A maximum of 15 students and three faculty members will spend the week living and working in downtown San Jose. Experiences will include working with the poor, elderly, children and developmentally disabled. Students will walk to most agencies. They will live at San Jose State University Catholic Campus Ministry. Students and faculty will work, pray, play and live together in an intense experience of Christian community. Pre-trip meetings to be determined
Holy Cross Immersion – Sherman Oaks, CA (Juniors only)
June 16 – 20, 2008
Cost of trip: $400 (includes airfare)
Five students and one faculty person will travel to Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. This trip will be an intense experience of service work and living in Christian community with students from three other Holy Cross High Schools in the Southwest Province. This is an opportunity that includes learning about the common values experienced by students in Holy Cross High Schools. Pre-trip meetings to be determined
El Salvador Immersion Trip (Juniors only)
June 14 – 22, 2008
Cost of trip: $1700 (includes air fare)
During the first week, students will live with families in a small village. Students will work, play, pray and share their experiences with a youth group called the Tamarindos. The second week the group will 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. The trip is open to a maximum of eight students with three Saint Francis adult leaders. Knowing some Spanish is helpful, but not necessary. Pre-trip meetings to be determined
Oakford Outreach Summer Bible Camp, Coachella, CA (Juniors & Seniors)
June 15 – 21 and/or June 22 – 28, 2008
Cost of trip: $300 for one week (airfare not included)
$500 for both weeks (airfare not included)
Spend a week conducting a bible camp for children in the Coachella Valley of Southern California. Live on site at the local parish church, work with a small group of children (many Spanish speaking) and spend time each day in prayer and processing about the day’s events with teens and young adults from the Coachella Valley and other parts of California. Sister Jodi Min, OP is the coordinator of the project sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Oakford. Pre-trip meetings to be determined.
TOTOL (Tohono O’Odham Truck Of Love) Summer Day Camp (Juniors)
June 7 – 29, 2008 (2 weeks within these dates)
Cost of trip: $850 (includes airfare)
This is an intense experience of working with children of the Tohono O’odham Native American tribe. It includes one week of set-up and leadership training with O’Odham teens and adults in preparation for a week of day camp with about 100 younger children of the desert. Participants work as counselors in a day camp setting. Applicants must be willing to work, play and pray together. Camp takes place in Pisinemo, Arizona on the Tohono O’odham Reservation southwest of Tucson. Pre-trip meeting May 17, 2008 from 12:00 noon until 5:00 p.m.
