"Sophomore Day of Service" Monday a continuation of a year of service performed by the students of Bishop Dunne Catholic School.
The entire Bishop Dunne sophomore class spent Monday, March 23, 2015, serving the community by working in and around the Kiest Park area, just up from Bishop Dunne on Rugged Drive.
Like the freshman class before them last fall, the sophomore class walked from Bishop Dunne to Kiest Park to work in and around the area. The students and their group leaders spent five hours picking up litter along the Kiest Park Circular Trail – which is two miles long – and along the north and south sides of Kiest Boulevard from Hampton Road to Rugged Drive, and along Kiestwood Trail south to Five Mile Creek.
Next, the class members spread fertilizer spikes around 32 Little Gem Magnolia trees in the Kiest Memorial Garden, mulched the trees there, and added some plants in the Rose Garden. Weeding of the Frog Garden and planting new Yuccas rounded out their service hours, upon which the students walked back to Bishop Dunne for some team building games.
Campus Minister Greg Schettini said the day went well, adding, “The beautiful sunny weather was a big help! And the sophomores worked hard.”
Sophomore Haley Park has been at Bishop Dunne since the 6th grade, since she came here from Immaculate Conception in Grand Prairie. She said of the day of service, “It was a good day – really fun - because we were united as a class. I learned that when we work as a team we can truly accomplish a lot!”
Classmate Brandon Zamorano, a graduate of St. Luke’s in Irving before attending Bishop Dunne as a freshman said, “I thought it was a good day overall. I don’t mind picking up trash to make the world a better place. It was good to be a part of something bigger than just myself.”
Paola Rodriguez summed up: “It was fun to work with my classmates!”
This was the third all-class service day. The combined 6th and 7th grade classes also had a service day last fall when they visited the elderly residents at St. Joseph’s in Oak Cliff, cleaning up outside the home and entertaining the residents within.
Barbara Barbee, long term volunteer at Kiest Park and designer of the list of tasks to do on Monday said in a letter of appreciation, “We were very pleased to welcome your sophomores and teachers and parents yesterday. We hope that your students will be regular visitors and help us as often as possible. Thank you so much for thinking of us when you looked for a project.” She added, after the service work, “I was totally kaput when I got home at 1:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon!”
Mr. Schettini is pleased with the work that is getting done around the Oak Cliff neighborhoods by Bishop Dunne students. “Our motto for these service days is the hashtag ‘#Dunne4others,’ and it’s been great to see our students working side by side, making the world a better place,” he says.
For more information about the Bishop Dunne service program see the school's website: www.bdcs.org or contact Greg Schettini at gschettini@bdcs.org. The school is having its 12th Annual Bishop Dunne Golf Classic at Stevens Park Golf Course on Monday, April 6th with tee-off at 9:00 a.m. and a first-ever Legends Dinner featuring former Dallas Cowboys Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly and Drew Pearson on Wednesday April 29th at AT&T Stadium. Both events help fund tuition assistance scholarships to deserving Bishop Dunne students. For information on both events see the school's sports website: www.Dunnesports.com or contact Tamishia Moats at tmoats.bdcs.org or call 469-291-1862. For school admission information contact Charleen Doan at cdoan@bdcs.org.