Champagnat Service takes the contemplative spirit and puts it into action, giving students the ability to have real experiences of reaching out and engaging with the other. It was the famous founder of the Catholic Workers Movement, Dorothy Day who, in 1963 said, “The greatest challenge facing the world today is how to bring about a revolution of the heart!" Pope Francis, in so many of his reflections, invites all Christians to a 'culture of encounter!' Have you met Jesus? Have you deeply encountered your brother and your sister whose home is the streets? Have you encountered and dialogued deeply with the stranger within you? Have you become vulnerable as you stand before the 'other,' in whatever form the 'other' may take? So many of our youth are longing for this encounter, longing to experience 'more'. They long for meaning. They long for authentic experiences of the heart. At St Teresa's it is our conviction that learning through service has a privileged role to play in both transforming the human heart, and thus, in turn, transforming the world.
Our students all participate in Champagnat Service with a different focus for each year level.
Year 7 focus: Youth Group, God in the other
Year 8 focus: Environment Stewardship
Year 9 focus: Sunshine Butterflies working with the disabled
Year 10 focus: St Vincent De Paul
Year 11 focus: Peer Mentoring, Year 2 & 3 students from St Thomas More
Year 12 focus: The Elderly in our community
© Brisbane Catholic Education, St Teresa’s Catholic College Noosaville (2021,2023)