On a weekday morning at Saint Joseph High School in South Bend, students form a human chain stretching down Notre Dame Avenue, passing boxes of donated diapers hand to hand toward the Women’s Care Center, which is just blocks from campus. For many, it is one of dozens of service moments they will experience during their four years of Catholic high school – moments that are required, tracked, and expected. But Catholic educators across the Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend insist that service is not meant to end with a checked box. As Catholic Schools Week (January 25-31) highlights the mission of diocesan schools, the four Catholic high schools are working to ensure that required service hours become something more than obligation. Through Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Clubs, school service programs, and structured opportunities to serve both locally and globally, schools are intentionally forming students to recognize the dignity of others and to see service as an expression of their faith. Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, providing emergency relief, development assistance, and peacebuilding efforts around the world. From large-scale food and diaper drives to schoolwide service days, these efforts aim to shape young people who do not simply complete service but carry a heart for service into adulthood. Provided by Saint Joseph High SchoolSaint Joseph High School students and staff donated more than 43,000 diapers to the Women’s Care Center in a single day on October 17. The entire student body formed a hand-to-hand line, passing boxes of diapers to the center just blocks from campus on Notre Dame Avenue in South Bend. Saint Joseph High School At Saint Joseph High School, service is woven into the rhythm of student life from freshman year through graduation. Each student completes at least 80 hours of Christian service over the course of their four years, serving with local nonprofit organizations committed to supporting those in need. “Serving the community is part of the fabric of our school,” said Saint Joseph High School Principal John Kennedy. “All of this forms our students in their faith and engenders a spirit of giving and serving that lasts into adulthood.” That formation takes many forms. Through its Catholic Relief Services Club, Saint Joseph High School students participate in the annual CRS Rice Bowl during Lent, connecting classroom learning with the Church’s global outreach. Locally, students support hunger relief efforts through a longstanding Hunger Bowl competition with Marian High School, together donating more than 25,000 pounds of food this year to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank. Other signature efforts, coordinated by various clubs, include a schoolwide diaper drive benefiting the Women’s Care Center – during which students pass thousands of donated diapers hand to hand to the nearby facility – and a Thanksgiving food drive that provides hundreds of meal baskets to families in the community. In addition to CRS Club, other student-led clubs at Saint Joseph support service efforts throughout the year, helping extend the school’s culture of giving across athletics and extracurricular activities. While service hours are tracked through a digital platform, Kennedy emphasized that the goal goes beyond compliance. Faculty members and club moderators encourage reflection on why students serve, helping them connect acts of charity to Gospel values and Catholic social teaching. The hope, Kennedy said, is that students leave Saint Joseph not only having served but understanding service as a lifelong response to faith. Ellen Andrews, a science teacher and Catholic Relief Services Club moderator at Saint Joseph, said reflection is key to helping service take root beyond a checklist. “I’ve seen a real growth in awareness and a greater sense of purpose in students who were involved in CRS leadership,” she said. Teaching some of the same students as freshmen, sophomores, and seniors has allowed Andrews to see that change over time. She pointed to former CRS leader Suzie Alcantar as one example of a student who developed a deeper commitment to serving others through organizing and volunteering with the club. Andrews said that structured discussions before and after service activities – using resources provided by CRS – help students connect their local efforts, such as food and diaper drives, to the Church’s global mission and Catholic social teaching. “I hope that reflection helps these values move from something students do into something they carry in their hearts,” Andrews said. Provided by Marian High SchoolOne of the projects sponsored by Marian High School’s Catholic Relief Services Club is a CRS Conscientious Christmas gift sale, offering ethically traded gifts that support artisans in developing countries. Marian High School At Marian High School in Mishawaka, service is central to the school’s identity – captured in its long-standing motto: Learn, Serve, and Lead. “Our goal is to serve the community just as Jesus showed us how to serve others,” said Nick Kaczynski, assistant principal for student formation. Throughout the school year, Marian students participate in a wide range of service efforts, from Knights Service Day to food and fundraising initiatives that support local agencies. That spirit of service extends not only outward but inward as well. Through Marian’s Knights in Need program, students, faculty, and families come together to support members of the Marian community who are facing illness, disability, or the loss of a loved one. The program, which marked its 25th anniversary in 2024, reflects Marian’s commitment to caring for one another as a faith community. Another expression of that mission is the Bernadette Scholars program, which welcomes students with learning challenges into the Marian family. Students play an active role in supporting their peers, helping to foster a school culture rooted in dignity, inclusion, and compassion. Marian’s Catholic Relief Services Club, led by theology teacher Kathy Kershner, adds a global and educational dimension to that mission. One signature initiative this year was a pop-up CRS ethically sourced Christmas gift store, designed to help students recognize the moral dimension of economic choices. By purchasing gifts made by artisans in developing countries, students and staff were invited to reflect on how everyday decisions can promote human dignity and the common good. Reflection is central to Marian’s approach. Following the school’s annual Day of Service, students read Matthew 25:31-46 and write about service as an essential part of Christian life. For junior William Pairitz, the experience reshaped how he views service. “One action affects one person, and they can then affect others,” he said. “This encourages everyone to be kinder and to help serve others – and furthers their own journey to heaven.” Provided by Bishop Luers High SchoolAll Bishop Luers High School students participate in Sodalitas, a service organization that supports the Fort Wayne community. During service days, students learn about the needs of others and take part in projects such as creating animal blankets for Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control. Bishop Luers High School At Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, service is one of the main pillars. “Every sport and club serves the community in different capacities,” said Bishop Luers Principal Seth Coffing. “Throughout the entire school, Sodalitas is a service-driven initiative that Bishop Luers High School plans and utilizes a fall and spring service day for students to get out in the community.” A newly established Catholic Relief Services Club is giving students a new way to respond to suffering they see far beyond their own community. Formed just six months ago, the CRS Club reflects both student initiative and a growing emphasis on connecting local faith life with the Church’s global mission. “I’m on social media a lot and kept seeing terrible things happening in the world,” said Marlene Chavez, a Bishop Luers student and CRS Club member. “Being young, it’s hard to know how to help, but when I learned Bishop Luers was starting a CRS Club, I took that opportunity in hopes that together we could make a difference – and we have.” Through teamwork and prayer, students have already led a schoolwide dress-down day to raise money to support Catholic Relief Services’ relief efforts in Ghana. Club members also designed and distributed a holy card featuring the Prayer of St. Francis, encouraging the Bishop Luers community to pray for those affected by war, famine, natural disasters, and poverty around the world. Jan Serrani, campus minister and co-moderator of the CRS Club, said the group complements existing service efforts at Bishop Luers, including the long-standing Sodalitas service program, which focuses primarily on local outreach. “CRS helps our students lift their eyes beyond our own community,” she said. “It connects what we believe as Catholics with real needs in the wider world.” Though still small in number, the CRS Club is helping students learn that service rooted in faith can begin locally – and reach globally. Provided by Bishop Dwenger High SchoolStudents from Bishop Dwenger High School volunteer at a Fort Wayne food pantry, collecting and sorting items to help serve neighbors in need. Bishop Dwenger High School At Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, service is approached with the same intentional focus on formation – both locally and globally. Through involvement with Catholic Relief Services, students learn how Catholic social teaching is lived out beyond their own community. The Student Service Program at Bishop Dwenger helps students learn to live out their faith as disciples of Jesus Christ by loving God and their neighbor. Led by chemistry teacher Andrea Hill, the school’s CRS program helps students understand how faith-filled service can bring hope to people around the world, particularly through initiatives such as the CRS Rice Bowl. During Lent, every classroom is challenged to raise money while also learning how those resources are used to provide life-changing support in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions. Principal Jason Schiffli said the program reflects the Church’s call to active engagement with the wider world. Quoting Pope Francis, Schiffli said Catholic schools are called “to influence and lead society, not to be isolated from it,” adding that the goal is to help students “see beyond our community and understand how other people of God are living – and how we can bring very real and sustaining help, joy, and hope to those who need it most.” While service hours are required, Catholic Relief Services Club activities help students experience service as something personal and relational. One of the club’s most visible efforts is its annual Christmas giving tree, coordinated with Catholic Charities. CRS members create gift tags and help organize donations, while the wider school community – students, faculty, and staff – purchases gifts for 10 children in need. The tree is in a public space, and many students and teachers help purchase gifts. “Every year I am amazed at the generosity of our students,” said Hill. For CRS students, however, one experience stands out. Each year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, club members volunteer at the Franciscan Center Food Pantry’s annual turkey distribution. In just two hours, hundreds of families receive turkeys, and Dwenger students are there to help make it happen. “My students are outside, in the cold,” Hill said, “and it is their favorite day!” She added that the opportunity to interact face to face with those being served leaves a lasting impression on students. Cyndi Wolf, Bishop Dwenger’s service coordinator and a theology teacher, said the school’s approach to service is rooted in forming disciples. “We’re building up students to be Christ to one another and to see Christ in other people,” she said, noting that service opportunities are guided by the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. While students are required to complete service hours, Wolf said many grow beyond obligation as they encounter new experiences. “Some students start because it’s required,” Wolf said, “but they’re often surprised by how meaningful it becomes.” Through outreach ranging from tutoring and food pantries to supporting neighbors and family members, Wolf said service helps students recognize faith as something lived daily. When Service Becomes a Way of Life For many students, service hours begin as an obligation. But through opportunities to serve locally and respond to global needs, those hours often become moments of encounter – with people, with faith, and with a deeper understanding of the Church’s mission. As Catholic Schools Week celebrates the role of Catholic education, diocesan high schools continue the work of forming students not only for academic success but for lives marked by compassion, responsibility, and service rooted in Christ. 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