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PLuS is a unique VCHS student experience. What do the acronym capitalized letters represent? Three key words in our mission: Purpose, Service, and Leadership.
This is how I define each. Purpose is the reason each of us is placed on planet earth, or peraps it's our calling. One of my favorite authors put it this way: "It's the place God calls you...where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
I want to see each of our students explore and begin to discover his or her purpose.
With service, I want to see our students follow the example of Jesus who said, "I did not come to be served, but to serve." As for leadership, it's simply 'influence'. I want to see our students, and one day alumni, positively 'influence' the world to make it better, wherever God places them.
Three years ago, we launched PLuS as a pilot program. On Tuesday, the entire student body will be engaged in local service in what we call PLuS Day. We will do the same on another PLuS Day on March 4th. For next week, we wanted our students to be outside as much as possible and sought local non-profits and churches who desired to have our students volunteer with them.
Those include 10th Mountain Division Hut Association, The Community Market – Gypsum, Mountain Recreation, Salvation Army, The Thrifty Shop, Trinity Church, Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance, Walking Mountains Science Center, and Youth Power 365.
These days provide a concentrated dose of PLuS for our students. Student Life Coordinator, Daniel Hartmann, is leading the charge. Why is this important to him? During his high school years, his own service experiences shaped who he is today, including his purpose and now his leadership of this program.
He wants to see our students more connected to what’s taking place in their own ‘backyard’. What’s his ultimate vision? He sees students having powerful experiences, ‘catching the service bug’, later signing up on their own to volunteer at some of these organizations, and student Connect groups adopting a local non-profit.
I share that vision. And beyond that, I pray that God will use PLuS Days to form our students into the men and women He is calling them (purpose!) to become. That they would be Saints on mission, serving and leading.
P.S. – Should you know of a non-profit or church interested in having our students plug in through volunteerism, including on March 4th, please contact Mr. Hartmann at dhartmann@vchsweb.org.
Steve O'Neil
Head of School
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