At Bishop O’Dowd High School, every student is challenged to ask themself: “What kind of person do I want to be? What am I created to do?” The Anawim Project, a 60-plus-hour service commitment, helps them answer these questions.
Completed alongside O’Dowd’s required Peace and Justice course, the Anawim Project challenges 11th- and 12th-grade students to work with local communities for justice, including environmental, economic, housing, racial justice, and more.
“The Anawim Project is a chance for students to continue diving deep into Catholic social teaching, and to apply what they’ve learned to real life work,” says Molleen Dupree-Dominguez, chair of the Religious Studies Department. She smiles.
Social justice is central to O’Dowd’s mission, and every student graduates having completed at least 100 hours of service learning.
“We want our students to see the interconnectedness of all beings,” Molleen says. “We want them to understand how issues are linked together, and how we can impact systems in positive ways. We put a high priority on partnering with service agencies, reaching out beyond the borders of our campus, and having profound social justice learning experiences for students.”
Ariana, Class of 2024
Anawim Project: Teaching science at Harbor House Justice Issue: Intergenerational Poverty
When Ariana saw the opportunity to teach science to grade-school kids at Harbor House in Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood, she was stoked.
“I have epilepsy, which originally got me interested in neuroscience,” Ariana says. “And I wanted to take my passion for science to the young kids at Harbor House, many of whom don’t get a lot of enrichment activities.”
Ariana led a science project for grade-schoolers at Oakland’s Harbor House. Courtesy of Harbor House
Ariana dug in, developing fun and artistic lesson plans that got her students learning about chemistry, biology and ecology. “Seeing how enthusiastic the kids were, it made me really excited to keep teaching,” Ariana says.
But it was upsetting, too. She learned from her Harbor House supervisor that many of the students came from families locked in intergenerational cycles of poverty. “It made me really aware of my privilege,” Ariana says. “It also showed me how important education is. How important it is to see a different path for yourself, even if your parents didn’t get to go to college.”
Now Ariana is moving forward with new dedication to her life path. “I saw at Harbor House how important mental health is. It made me realize that giving young people support during this key developmental time in their lives is a total game changer,” she says. “Now I want to become a psychiatrist and serve young people in under-resourced communities….”
From Oaklandside
Bishop O’Dowd is in Oakland, where it isn’t safe to walk around and businesses have to have generators to provide electricity when PG&E cuts the power.
Want to see what “social justice” gets you? Visit Oakland.
Plus: “There’s no there, there.”
Ariana, you are wonderful. Keep going through any negativity.
There will be people who cannot see your vision.
Just move ahead.
God bless you.
What would Bishop O’Dowd and Archbishop Mitty think of the schools named in their honor?
Saint Ignatius, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Francis Xavier and the Blessed Mother?
“…every student is challenged to ask themself…” I guess this is the new grammatical rule– every student is an individual so considered as a singular, but the pronoun “themself” seems to be plural. I need to catch up on updated English rules.
That said, I do appreciate the immersion students like Ariana get into the lives of “families locked in intergenerational cycles of poverty.” I thought I might hear something like she gained a new appreciation of her Catholic faith (besides her Catholic education at O’Dowd) as a real privilege. She was so interested in teaching science I also thought I might hear she wanted to dedicate herself to that endeavor to “serve young people in under-resourced communities….” Her decision to become a psychiatrist caught me by surprise. Mental illness is indeed prevalent in many destitute people and has a role in intergenerational cycles of poverty. So she wants to target the impoverished youth as a psychiatrist when such illness manifests in them. Well and good, Ariana. My hat is off to you, since your chosen path requires years of med school. Only don’t forget the importance of faith in our Lord for these same people who need psychiatric help, and don’t forget the impact you had teaching science. May the Lord guide you to do good for those most in need of your talents.
Traditionally, both Catholic and Protestant mission groups serving the poor, used to teach the poor and disadvantaged all about Jesus, and instruct them in Christianity, and even give them Bibles. Ideally, evangelization should go hand-in-hand with the social services given by Catholic students and workers. Also, we have a Catholic Medical Association that stands for Catholic beliefs and values, in the medical field. Students interested in medical professions should be given good material about this organization– perhaps they also have programs, or even scholarships, for Catholic medical students. Great idea, for Catholic students to volunteer with Catholic agencies, hospitals, clinics, and religious orders doing charitable work. The Missionaries of Charity, the Little Sisters of the Poor, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic pro life agencies that serve women in crisis pregnancies, Birthright,
Catholic Charities, etc., all would love to have these students come and volunteer.
There will be a White Mass for all medical professionals on Oct. 14 at 6pm, at Mater Dolorosa Church in South San Francisco. There is a chapter in San Francisco, called the San Francisco Guild of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA).
You can find them online. They will help Catholic medical professionals to join the national CMA. You can also find Catholic doctors through their website.
Here is a link to the SF Guild (branch) of the CMA:
https://sfguild.cathmed.org/about/
Sorry to say this– but if the social justice programs at Bishop O’Dowd High School are not firmly rooted in Catholic teaching, with doors firmly closed to wrongful secular beliefs and practices– how many students will be wrongfully influenced to give up Catholic teaching and practice, someday, even leave the Church– and become secular professionals in the social services, teaching, healthcare and medicine fields– teaching, promoting, and committing all the terrible sins promoted by liberal, sinful Democrat politicians– promiscuity, abortion, birth control, half of the nation’s children born out-of-wedlock, poor, fatherless, disadvantaged children growing up in bad homes headed by immoral adults, the institution of Traditional Marriage (man-woman), and sacred, God-ordained roles of men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, mocked, knocked and degraded, kids getting into gangs, or getting addicted to dope, homeless people allowed to live dangerously, irresponsibly, in the streets– no dope rehab or mental hospital required for their needs– the LGBT agenda, transgenderism, transgender social transitions and bodily mutilations on minors, biological boys wrongfully competing with girls and using the girls’ bathroms and locker rooms (violating modesty, inviting possible sexual crimes), gay sex and gay “marriage,” gay child adoptions, pornography in the schools, pornography and child pornography online and everywhere, CRT and “dumbing down” math and other academic subjects– instead of teaching Christ’s way, to love and accept others and do good to them (Golden Rule), promoting or practicing assisted suicide and euthanasia– and psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers practicing, promoting and teaching all of these terrible sins—- these evils of the Godless secular world are horrifically destructive! Catholic young people must be taught to do their best for Christ– and work hard, to defeat the Culture of Death, and help establish Christ’s Culture of Life.
It’s about Values, not privilege or poverty.
There is an interconnectedness for sure. DEI, CRT, gender confusion, gay sex, promiscuity, abortion, dissenting Catholics, Marxism, totalitarianism and the destruction of marriage and family and more are, indeed, all interconnected.
These kinds of things will fade fast when terrorism comes to US soil, thanks to Biden opening up the borders to any vermin who wanted to enter the country. They are here, and they will activate, just as they did in Israel. When self-preservation is a concern, “service learning” will be forgotten. Maybe train kids how to use guns properly and accurately.
Do you think it’s appropriate or Christian to call human persons, made in the image of God, “vermin?”
I’m quite aware of the terrorist threat. Might we discuss border security without name calling?
And, I have no problem with lawful firearms possession and use. I’m a firearms owner and was taught to safely use them when I was a boy.
Name calling sheds little light and only adds heat to an already heated society. Jesus didn’t go to the Cross for vermin, but He did for each and every human. person.
Philosopher terrorists have feelings too, ya know.
Social Justice is a set of lies. We now know that there was no evidence that George Floyd was strangled. Derek Chauvin should be released from prison immediately and exonerated. Leftist “social justice” is racially motivated, mob mentality.
https://thepostmillennial.com/far-left-pressure-in-george-floyd-case-may-have-influenced-trial-despite-lack-of-strangulation-evidence-court-documents