Community service is not only a graduation requirement and an integral part of Academy of the Holy Angels' philosophy; it is also an opportunity for students to share their gifts as they help others. In her morning address on Service Day 2017, AHA Principal Jean Mullooly pointed out that this annual event also allows students to discover where they fit into the greater community.
This year, Holy Angels volunteers brought their energy and enthusiasm to Eva’s Village, La Vida Child Care, the Father English Community Center, Good Counsel Homes, Saint John’s Soup Kitchen, Saint Matthew’s Lunchtime Ministry, the Nurturing Place, the Institute for Educational Achievement, and various other locations. AHA volunteers cooked and served meals, worked with children on the autism spectrum, and provided muscle power for a wide variety of chores.
The entire sophomore class worked to maintain the trails at Palisades Interstate Park, and the entire freshman class sorted food at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
One group of AHA volunteers helped with Field Day for students at Saint Peter the Apostle School in Philadelphia, while others devoted their energy to Habitat for Humanity.
Several of the school’s artists participated in Art on the Go, which focused on arts and crafts projects for the benefit of the Franciscan Sisters, Adult Day Away, and Holy Name Hospital. Some students helped assemble hygiene kits through the Days for Girls program, and others worked in the school greenhouse, planting and harvesting the fresh vegetables that are being grown for local food pantries.
One determined group of juniors removed garlic mustard, an invasive plant, from the grounds of New Jersey Audubon’s Lorrimer Sanctuary. They also helped plant milkweed seeds and seedlings for the sanctuary’s butterfly garden, priced plants in advance of a sale, and assisted a group of very young children in their search for different bird species.
In addition to the work they contribute each year on Service Day, AHA students engage in various projects as individuals and in groups to serve the greater community.
Since 1879, thousands of women have passed through the portals of Academy of the Holy Angels high school, the oldest private girls’ school in New Jersey. Many go on to study at some of the nation’s best universities, earning high-ranking positions in medicine, government, law, education, public service, business, arts and athletics. Our goal is to provide each girl with the tools she needs to reach the fullness of her potential—spiritually, intellectually, socially and physically, by offering a first–rate education in a nurturing environment where equal importance is placed on academic excellence, character development, moral integrity and giving service to others.
- Jennifer Crusco, the Communications Assistant, The Academy of the Holy Angels
