Since 1999, the Academy of the Holy Names has sponsored mission trips for high school students to locations ranging from the Heart of Tampa to the Dominican Republic. This year, the entire high school participated in a week dedicated to mission during the inaugural Rose Project. The video below outlines the purpose of this project.

Learning through their experiences of faith, service and work for justice, students served the following communities:

• Dominican Republic
• Haiti
• San Juan, Texas
• Scranton, Pennsylvania
• Jonestown, Mississippi
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Florida Panhandle
• Elk Park, North Carolina
• Orlando, Florida
• Tampa/Ruskin

In the months leading up to the Rose Project, students and staff gathered for spiritual preparation, praying together and reflecting on both the challenges and gifts that the week might bring. The groups held supply drives for their specific trips, did research about the areas and populations they would be serving and worked in their Rose Project missionary journal created by Sister Lisa Perkowski. The “Encounter” journal was used during preparation and throughout the week as a way to pray and reflect. Click here to view the journal.

Once at the various sites, service included everything from mold remediation to making sustainable food packaging from beeswax. There was work with animals, work with children and the elderly, furniture construction and fence repair. In addition, missionaries had the opportunity to worship together. In Jonestown, our students joined Sister Kay for Mass, while in Louisiana our students attended Mass on campus at LSU. We are so proud of our students for praising God throughout the week and truly living out the school’s motto, Esse Quam Videri, or, To Be, Rather Than to Seem.