by Leigh Campbell

Service coordinator Kate Absher plans to take nine of students on St. Teresa’s first mission trip to Chicago over spring break. The trip will mark St. Teresa’s first ever school-sponsored mission trip. Volunteers will pay $530 to cover expenses.

“I think it’s important to realize how many people in many different locations need help,” Absher said. “We wanted to start mission trips at STA to give the girls not only an alternative to typical spring break trips, but also to take the opportunity to see the needs of communities outside of our own.”

According to Absher, volunteering students will stay at Su Casa Catholic Worker House, where they will serve residents staying there. Volunteers will be doing an “urban plunge,” which consists of doing different types of service work throughout the city daily.

“I chose Chicago because it is a great city to get a taste of service,” Absher said. “Also, as I just recently moved from Chicago last June, I know the area, can navigate the city, and have a lot of connections through my former school.”

Every day, students will serve at The Peace Corner on the westside of Chicago, a place for teens and pre-teens to reside after school so they are not tempted to join gangs or deal drugs. Volunteers will also work with H.O.M.E (Housing Opportunities & Maintenance for the Elderly) where they will play games and crafts with the elderly. According to homeseniors.org, H.O.M.E ”helps low-income seniors in Chicago maintain their independence by providing home upkeep and repair, a shopping bus and three affordable, intergenerational buildings.”

In addition, volunteers will be working at the Learning Center, an educational center for adult education, specifically Mexican immigrants. Everyday students will be working at soup kitchens as well.

“I was always jealous that my siblings got to go on mission trips,” sophomore Gracie Fleming said. “I was originally going to go on one with Miege. So when I heard that St. Teresa’s was going to go on one, I was really excited because one, I just wanted to do it with St. Teresa’s and I also really love Chicago.”

Fleming said that she won’t mind missing her spring break because this is a good opportunity to see what Chicago is like and they “are going to be doing a lot of work” but also “have time to do other things like explore the city.”

According to Absher, she met with the administration a few times to discuss priorities of mission trips at STA before getting the first trip approved. Other chaperones have not been decided.

“It was important to go outside of our own community, but to slowly build the trips so that each year we go to new and different locations and hopefully different countries in the future,” Absher said.