Spiritan Immersion Programs

Lead Teacher: Mr. Goulet
Assistant Teachers: Mike Jacobs and Moira Hill
Cost: $0
Dates of Course: This experience will have experiences both in the fall and spring
semesters. Students will work on and off-campus at various locations throughout the
school year.
Description: In partnership with Philabundance, the largest hunger relief organization
in the Delaware Valley, students will explore the crisis of hunger in Philadelphia and
beyond. Hunger is the most devastating symptom of poverty in Philadelphia, and
students will explore ways to break this cycle. Students will run our Preston & Steve’s
"Camp Out for Hunger" collection, oversee a community-wide dress-down day, and
prepare and deliver our donation to the Preston & Steve Show and Philabundance's
Hunger Relief Center. Students will further spend hours volunteering at Philabundance,
Caring for Friends, and the Jewish Relief Agency in the winter/spring months. 

Max enrollment: 30 students

Lead Teacher: Mr. Dembik
Cost: $0
Dates of Course: October 23-25, 2024
Description: Students will have the opportunity to work in the "soup kitchen" of St.
Francis Inn in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Work will include stocking
shelves, making deliveries, and helping to prepare and serve one to two meals a day. The
students will also learn about the challenges that are faced by the urban poor and
homeless and they will grapple with the potential ways to help a community such as
Kensington. Students will live in one of the Inn's properties, prepare their own meals,
and spend some time in the community. They will also help Christ in the City, another
homeless outreach ministry, serve a meal in Center City.
Max enrollment: 8 students

Lead Teacher: Mr. Geruson

Cost: Free

Dates of Course: January 19-21, 2025

Description: Students will have the opportunity to work in the "soup kitchen" of St. Francis Inn in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Work will include stocking shelves, making deliveries, and helping to prepare and serve one to two meals a day. The students will also learn about the challenges that are faced by the urban poor and homeless and they will grapple with the potential ways to help a community such as Kensington. Students will live in one of the Inn's properties, prepare their own meals, and spend some time in the community.

Max enrollment: 8 students

Lead Teacher: Dr. Scanlon
Cost: $240
Dates of Course: Fall Trip November 15, 2024. Other Dates TBA
Description: Explore Philadelphia in all of its diversity on periodic weekday trips into
the city. Prior trips included experiences in some of the areas and places that follow: the
arts (a play at the Arden Theater); service projects for the needy (making meals for the
homebound with MANNA); social justice (a walking audio tour of Eastern State
Penitentiary); food and culture (trips to restaurants and shops at Reading Terminal
Market, along Baltimore Avenue, and in Fishtown); and parks and nature (a tour of
Bartram’s Garden). Through these trips, we hope that students will gain a greater
appreciation of Philadelphia, both the opportunities it offers and the challenges it faces.
Max enrollment: 24 students

Lead Teacher: Mr. Fenstermaker

Cost: $350

Dates of Course: March 13 to 16, 2025

Description:  The Duquesne University Leadership Academy (DULA) is a program for
high school students to engage in challenging dialogue, motivating workshops and
training, and community-engaged and social activities designed to enhance academic learning, personal development, faith development, leadership skills, and civic identity development. DULA seeks to foster engaging with the local community, growing in our faith, building servant leaders, and building community with one another. Additionally, participants will begin to develop the skill set necessary to constructively engage with diverse stakeholders in order to collaboratively achieve realistic resolutions to community problems; to assess their leadership style and craft a plan to recognize themselves as future change agents within their communities and the world; and to nurture the promotion of a holistic and systematic approach to peace and justice in our world.

Max enrollment: 10 students

Lead Teacher: Fr. Dan Sormani, C.S.Sp.

Cost: $120

Dates of Course: April 11-13,2025

Description: Students will meet and interact with the Francophone community from
Africa and Haiti of Saint Mark’s Parish, Harlem, New York City to learn about their
culture, share traditional meals and communicate in French. They will also meet the
African-American parishioners of this, the oldest Black Catholic Parish in New York
City. The students will stay in the Spiritan rectory with the Spritian pastor from The
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dinners will be prepared by different francophone families who will stay with us and share about their culture and life. Students will be immersed in the Francophone African and African-American community through this experience.

Max enrollment: 8 students

Lead Teacher: Dr. Saxton

Assistant Teacher(s): Maria Lehr-Fortino

Cost: $355

Dates of Course: Thursday, October 17 – Saturday, Oct 19, 2024

Description: The theme of this year’s trip is “Civic and Democratic Engagement.” An
essential part of American democracy is having an engaged population that is prepared
to be actively involved in the community. The focus will be on individuals’ roles as
citizens in a democratic society and contributors to community engagement. To better
understand the practices and core principles that define a representative democracy,
students will tour the US Capitol Building and meet with public officials and civic
leaders. In addition, the trip will explore how civic engagement can increase the power
of ordinary people to influence government actions by visiting the National Museum of
African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian,
and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The trip concludes with a visit to Our Lady
Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia to learn about the history of
Spiritan activities in the local community life and participate in the community building
process through a service project. “Far too often, people think of themselves as just
individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do
affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of
humanity.” –Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931–2021)

Max Enrollment: 18

Lead Teacher: Mr. Gabriele

Assistant Teacher(s): Mr. Hallahan, Mr. Coia

Cost: $150

Registration Process: $50 deposit required.

Dates of Course: Three days - One day trip to NYC on November 21, 2024 to tour both the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One day of service in January or February and one day of service in April. There will be additional time requirements to prepare for each of the three days. Organize, host and participate in the Fine Art Festival.

Experience Description:

The Art and Music Spiritan Immersion focuses on Global Vision, Service to the Poor and Sense of Community. 

Global Vision is achieved through a day trip to NYC where students tour MOMA and Met to learn about the history of their discipline, either art or music.

Service to the Poor is achieved through a day of service. Art students will draw a portrait of a child from an underprivileged child and send that drawing to that child. Music students will visit local communities and perform live to share their gifts and lift the spirits of their audience. 

Sense of Community is achieved through students sharing the unique gifts they have worked on all year with a live audience after school. Students host the Fine Arts Festival and display their artwork in the gallery or, as a music student, perform live music in the theater. In advance of the event, students complete all the preparations for the gallery, theater, advertisements, program and catalog. 

Estimated Cost Per Student: TBA

Max Enrollment: 30

Lead Teachers: Mrs. Jenny Daily and Mr. Luke Profy

Cost: $2300 total, $400 deposit required

Dates of Course: May 23-May 27, 2025, with additional meetings before the trip

Description: For five days and four nights, under the guidance of Spiritan values,
students will study leadership through the Disney Institute’s Imagination Campus.
Disney is highly respected for their leadership education, fostering critical thinking in
leadership and communication. As a global company, students will have the opportunity
to explore leadership styles uninhibited by borders and inclusive of people
worldwide.students will study leadership through the Disney Institute’s Imagination
Campus. Classes and activities will take place onsite in Orlando, Florida. Daytime
activities include two Disney Institute Imagination Campus Workshops focused on
development of leadership and service skills, a Keys to the Kingdom Tour to study
collaboration and management, and MouseQuest, a team-building and discovery
activity. Students will participate in nightly reflections with the lead teachers, which will
include journaling, question and answer sessions, and other activities. The goal of the
program is for students to identify and develop their leadership skills to become servant
leaders. This Spiritan Immersion program also includes three meals a day, round trip
airfare, and five-day park hopper tickets.
This program is geared towards sophomores and will be given preference to sign up.

Max enrollment: 30 students

Lead Teacher: Theresa Kohler and Patrick McGhee                                                                                
Estimated Cost Per Student: $650                                                                                                                                            
Dates of Proposed Experience: February 12-15th or 16th                                                                                                                              
Experience Description: Walking tour of Boston Deliver the knit hats to the homeless, either on route around Boston or to an area shelter. Visit and experience the culture of Boston at Fenway Park, see Boston from a different vantage point high up in the observatory, and take a sunset cruise through the harbor with history about Boston.
Get a thorough tour of Harvard’s campus and surroundings as well as the opportunity to
experience a large-scale forensics tournament. You do not have to be competing to
attend this trip.
Max enrollment: 4 Students

Lead Teacher: Mr. Fitzpatrick

Assistant Teacher: Dr. Pitts

Cost: $385

Dates of Course: April 15-19, 2025, with 3 break meetings before the trip.  Juniors, be aware that the dates of this trip conflict with the Prom.  Juniors not going to the Prom are welcome to sign up.  We hope many sophomores will also consider this trip to help us fill all 16 spots available.

Description:  Students will have the opportunity to see and learn first-hand about the challenges of living in Appalachia, thus bringing the “face of rural poverty in the US” into light. Students will be able to work with their own hands to help make the homes of 1-2 families safer, healthier, and warmer and learn how time, weather, and low-incomes combine to make home maintenance a challenge. Students will reflect on how venturing to remote areas of the US to assist those often overlooked embodies core principles of the Spiritan Rule of Life.  Returning participants will study leadership theories and principles prior to the trip and then have the opportunity to practice the principles and skills by serving as work coaches and team “leads” for cooking, shopping, cleaning, and community building/prayer.

Max enrollment: 16 students

Lead Teacher: Mrs. Kudla

Cost: $2,850

Dates of Course: February 21-28, 2025 and April 6-12, 2025

Description: Students are paired with Blackrock College students. Together they attend classes at each school, participate in Spiritan programming, tour historical and cultural sites, and enjoy sports and entertainment. Each student stays in the home of his partner when we are in Dublin (February 21-28) and then hosts that student when the partner is in the U.S. (April 6-12, 2025).

Max enrollment: 18

Lead Teacher: Mr. Perez

Cost: $2,300

Dates of Course: June TBA

Description: This Esperanza Dominican Republic mission trip allows our students to work with the Spiritans in San Juan de la Maguana. Students will plan, prepare, and facilitate a sports camp in the morning and activities in the evening for school children. 

Max enrollment: 26 

Lead Teacher: Mr. Geruson

Assistant Teachers: TBA

Cost: $3,500 

Dates of Course: August 1-8,2025 (Tentative) Eight (8) days during the summer of 2025  with meetings prior and prep work beforehand to allow students to understand the history of the Spiritan missions in Africa.

Description: Students will walk in the footsteps of the Spiritan missionaries who work
educating and spreading the Gospel message to the people in Africa. We will visit the
Spiritan missions in and around Arusha and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, such as Tengeru
Boys School, Holy Ghost Vocational Training Center, a special-needs school, and the
Flying Medical Service. We will immerse ourselves in the culture of the people we meet,
the food we eat, and the communities we serve. HGP students will also have an
opportunity to go on safari during their time in Africa and experience the beauty and
magnificence of Tanzania. 

Max enrollment: 10 students

Lead Teacher: Fr. Dan Sormani

Assistant Teachers: TBA

Cost: $2,500 

Dates of Course: We'll leave Friday, June 6 and return Saturday, June 14. (9 days all together: 2 traveling, 7 immersed, including joining the big Patronal Feast Day of St. Anthony at the Spiritan parish of St. Anthony.

Description: Essentially, we will travel to Mexico (nine days, including travel) with a group of students (10 to 15 maximum) to carry out volunteer activities such as literacy, English classes, Bible study, sports camps, music classes, help with painting schools, donations of school resources, etc. Much will depend on the gifts, talents, and interests of those who join our team.

Max enrollment: 15 students