January 20, 2026 // Diocese

From Classrooms to Communities

Tim Johnson

As Catholic Schools Week is celebrated across the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, students in Catholic elementary schools are learning an essential lesson that extends far beyond the classroom: faith comes alive through service. From caring for neighbors in need to reaching out to the elderly and the poor, these schools are helping children understand that following Christ begins with love in action.

Throughout the diocese, Catholic elementary schools intentionally weave service into daily school life, helping students connect Gospel values with real-world needs. Whether through food drives, outreach to the homeless, visits with seniors, or hands-on acts of charity, these experiences teach students that service is not an occasional activity but a core part of Catholic identity – one that shapes how they see others and their place in the world.

A School United in Service

At St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Fort Wayne, service is a schoolwide commitment that brings students of all ages together. Each October, every student – from pre-K 3-year-olds through middle school – participates in a comprehensive service project benefiting St. Henry’s Ministries, an outreach in southeast Fort Wayne that includes a community garden, thrift store, and vital support for individuals and families in need.

Younger students create hundreds of Christmas and greeting cards that are distributed through St. Henry’s Christmas boxes. Students in grades 2 through 5 organize and manage a collection drive for essential items, including hygiene products and food, while middle school students load donations and travel to St. Henry’s to assist with cleaning, greenhouse work, food distribution, painting, and yard projects. Eighth-grade students spend the day serving at Community Harvest Food Bank.

Beyond the annual project, Elizabeth Ann Seton’s National Junior Honor Society and Student Council regularly organize dress-down fundraisers supporting organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the National Association for Deaf Awareness.

“For those of us on staff, along with our wonderful teachers and administrators, it was a great sight to see,” said Jean Vandegriff, marketing and development coordinator at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. “We felt united as a school community and very grateful and blessed.”

Cultivating Hope for Others

Another example of how Catholic schools use service to teach the Gospels to their students comes from St. Joseph Grade School in South Bend, where sixth-grade language arts teacher Jenny Greenlee helps lead student service at HOPE Ministries. Over the years, students have participated in a variety of service efforts, including supporting the school lunch program at Mary Immaculate School in Haiti, assisting at St. Margaret’s House, and serving veterans at the Robert L. Miller Veterans Center.

Sixth graders also serve lunch at HOPE Ministries twice each school year. Greenlee said students begin the experience by learning about the complex circumstances that can lead to homelessness, including job loss, illness, lack of affordable housing, or limited access to transportation or job training.

“The first time the students attend, they are just getting the lay of the land,” Greenlee said. “The second time, they are able to fully understand and develop that love of helping others in need. All of the other opportunities continue to build their joy for serving others.”

That joy often extends beyond the school year. When students reflect on the legacy they hope to leave at St. Joseph Grade School, many point to their experiences at HOPE Ministries and express a desire to continue serving into the summer months.

Serving Neighbors Close to Home

While Elizabeth Ann Seton School’s anniversary project highlights the impact of a school united in service, similar lessons are taking shape throughout the diocese – including at Sacred Heart School in Warsaw, in the heart of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

At Sacred Heart, students learn that service often begins by noticing everyday needs in their own community. Earlier this year, second graders created baby wipes for Our Father’s House, an outreach of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In December, students rang bells at a local grocery store to support the Salvation Army. A United Way grant later helped fund hygiene kits assembled for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Encountering Faith Across
Generations

At St. Joseph Grade School, South Bend, service emphasizes encounter and relationship. Fourth-grade teacher Beth Badics leads an outreach that connects students with retired Sisters of the Holy Cross through conversation, prayer, and shared time.

Through visits and storytelling, students come to see the sisters not simply as figures from Church history but as living witnesses – women who once taught children just like them, served the poor, and continue to support the Church through prayer and joyful example. Badics has seen the effects extend well beyond the visits themselves, as students return to school more attentive to others, more willing to help at home, and more mindful of classmates who feel left out.

“They start to see service as something joyful,” Badics said, “not a chore – something that continues quietly, just as the sisters have lived it.”

Another service ministry at St. Joseph, overseen by sixth-grade teacher Jenny Greenlee, brings students into regular contact with HOPE Ministries, where they serve meals and assist with outreach to individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Rooted in the Holy Cross tradition of forming minds and hearts, the experience helps students grow in empathy as they learn how easily circumstances such as job loss, illness, or lack of affordable housing can lead to homelessness. Through repeated visits and reflection, students begin to see service as part of their faith in action and as a legacy they hope to carry forward.

Service as Formation

Service is also central at Christ the King Catholic School, where students are formed academically and spiritually. Inspired by Blessed Basil Moreau’s reminder that “how we cultivate the heart is and will remain timeless,” Christ the King staff and students place service at the core of the community’s Catholic identity.

Students partner with local agencies throughout their school years, serving the elderly, the poor, individuals with disabilities, and women facing unplanned pregnancies. In eighth grade, students participate in a three-day service immersion trip to Indianapolis, where they assist at organizations such as Gleaners Food Bank, women’s shelters, veterans’ homes, and a local Catholic school.

“The experience is intentionally paired with guided theological reflection,” said Lindsay Jeffress, principal of Christ the King, “allowing students to connect their service directly to Gospel values and Church teaching.”

Small Acts, Lasting Lessons

Across the diocese, schools large and small are also finding meaningful ways to instill hearts of service.

At St. Jude Catholic School in Fort Wayne, kindergarten students recently performed “The Friendly Beasts,” a Nativity play told through the eyes of animals in the stable, for residents of Saint Anne Communities, a retirement and senior care facility across the street from the school. Organized by kindergarten teachers Cathy Zeigler and Elise Wappes, the performance offered students an early lesson in bringing joy to others.

At St. Pius X Catholic School in Granger, a Step-by-Step Stewardship program introduces service at every grade level. Seventh graders recently created fleece prayer blankets for patients at the Center for Hospice Care, while third graders held a food drive and made Christmas cards for families served by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Students at St. Therese Catholic School in Fort Wayne coordinate a monthly food drive for the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society and are working with Scouts to develop a Rosary trail and meditation area for the parish and community.

At St. Thomas the Apostle School in Elkhart, students participate in casual-dress fundraisers supporting organizations such as Women’s Care Center, Holy Innocents, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Riley Hospital for Children. Students in grades 4 through 8 also create cards for homebound parishioners.

In New Haven, students at St. Louis Academy recently collected more than 300 blankets, along with hats, gloves, and socks, for the St. Vincent de Paul Society and local first responders.

At Our Lady of Hungary School in South Bend, students in the upper grades volunteer at Cultivate Food Rescue preparing meals for children and families in need. All students engage in school-wide food drives to support a food pantry sponsored by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Living Faith Year-Round

Together, these efforts reflect a shared mission across Catholic elementary schools in the diocese: forming students who understand that faith is meant to be lived. Catholic Schools Week offers a moment to celebrate those efforts, but the lessons of service continue long after the banners come down.

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Catholic Schools Week: United in Faith and Community

“Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community” is the theme for this year’s Catholic Schools Week, observed January 25-31. Catholic schools across the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend – from grade schools and high schools to Catholic colleges and universities – mark the week with Masses, faith-based events, assemblies, open houses, and activities that highlight the unique mission of integrating faith and learning.

Catholic Schools Week is coordinated nationally by the National Catholic Education Association, which notes that Catholic education is rooted in forming the whole person – body, mind, and spirit. “The fact that all members of a Catholic school community share the Christian vision of faith that Christ is the foundation of Catholic education is what unites the school as a faith-filled community,” the association states.