Peace and Social Justice Projects

Students participate in activities that help raise their awareness about global issues—such as living with poverty, hunger, or violence— and the effect those conditions can have not only on a society as a whole, but also on an individual. Through activities such as the “hunger banquet” (a game that illustrates global hunger by allocating food to people based on the relative wealth of the country in which they live) and conversations, students learn about aspects and conditions of human existence — and have the opportunity to understand it in a tangible, personal way. They gain new perspective on their own community, become motivated to find ways they can help individually or as a group, and learn more about Catholic social teaching’s concern for the collective welfare of humanity.

Service Projects

Students participate in many different outreach efforts. Kindergartners color placemats for local nursing home residents, 2nd Graders who are doing service in preparation for First Holy Communion make cards for delivery to elderly people through Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly, and 4th graders bake and decorate Christmas cookies for a local soup kitchen.

Students sponsor an annual food drive for our sharing parish, Ascension-St. Susanna in Harvey, Illinois. To help promote the drive, 7th Graders make posters and Student Council representatives put them up in the Junior and the Senior Buildings. Students gather non-perishable food items in boxes in homerooms in the Senior Building.

In addition to these grade sponsored activities, students along with the entire parish participate in volunteer trips to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, coat drives, toy drives, a Giving Tree to provide Christmas gifts for children in need, and coin collections for everything from UNICEF, Operation Rice Bowl and the Women’s Center.

Greencorps Chicago

Our 7th and 8th grade students are involved with Greencorps Chicago, a program of the City of Chicago Department of the Environment. One of this city agencie’s purposes is to create gardens and green spaces in the community by providing plants and seeds.

Our student gardeners have germinated seeds, prepared planting beds, and planted bulbs around the school buildings. They also participated in the Great Perennial Divide. Through the generosity of school staff members who donated divided plants from their own gardens, they were able to swap plants with Greencorps Our plant allotment was 62 perennials! Students planted them infront of the church and in the Sacred Heart gardens between the school building wings under the guidance of Sr. Ann, Mrs. Kunath and Mrs. Peters. They look forward to spring when they hope to see the fruits of their labor!

Bellarmine Press

Our school newspaper, Bellarmine Press, provides a way for students to voice their opinions and explore their interests. In addition to fostering a sense of community and school pride, it functions as a natural extension of our Language Arts program, giving students a way to build their skills as writers and communicators. It also provides some real-world experience in project management, meeting deadlines, and teamwork.

Learn more: For more information and to schedule a visit, please call 773-725-5133 or email our Principal, Carrie Mijal.