STUDENT SERVICE Hour REQUIREMENTS

In keeping with the Catholic, Dominican missions of St. Catherine’s and with Jesus’ call to every one of his followers, all students are required to complete service work outside of school hours. Service is at the core of what the Racine Dominicans represent to this community, and is instilled in the school through the four pillars. For all students service hours are a general graduation requirement. 

Day With A purpose

Day With A Purpose is a long standing tradition here at St. Catherine’s High School. It began with a walk and over time has become what it is today. Our students come to school like a normal day but it is nothing close to a normal day. We begin the day in prayer and then are separated into random groups to go and do 4 hours of service in our community. Here are a some of the locations we have volunteered at: Racine Dominicans Siena Center, St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry, Veterans Outreach, Racine Zoo, Jockey, Wisconsin Humane Society Kenosha, Racine County Food Bank, HALO, Alpha House, Weed Out, St Sebastian's, John Paul II Elementary School, Giving to the Nations, Inc.. FirstPres Food Pantry, Hospitality Center, Women's Resource Center, St. Catherine's and Local Gardens , Cops 'N Kids Reading Center, Inc., River Bend Nature Center, Woof Gang Rescue, and Habitat for Humanity,

Due to the size of our student population we have our Freshmen and Sophomore class serve on one day and our Juniors and Seniors serve on another day. Counting all of our student and adults that is over 500 people doing 4 hours of work in two days. 2,000 hours of service in our community in two days!

Once we complete our service we come back to school to reflect on our work. Answering questions such as: How did you make an impact? How did this positively help someone? What Catholic Social Teaching does this show and how? What Dominican Pillar does this show and why? (prayer, study, community, and service)

We are so blessed to be able to have this special day as part of our school tradition. Making a difference in our community and transforming our hearts by following in the steps of Jesus.

Student Drives

Many of our student clubs here at St. Catherine’s high school hosts a drive during the school year to help local and international programs.

Here are a few examples of drives this school year:

Campus Ministry Club- Christmas Gift Drive For Our Families: Campus Ministry puts together an ask from our most in need families here at St. Catherine’s High School. These are students they walk the hallways with each day, not knowing they are struggling. We then reach out asking if anyone is looking to make a difference this Christmas Season. This gift giving program keeps students from waking up to nothing under the Christmas tree.

Guardian Angels- raising money for Wisconsin Humane Society by selling tickets for an out of uniform day. They are also designing and selling t-shirts so they can raise money for this important organization.

Interact Club- In connection to the Rotary club of Racine, we will be hosting an international focused drive, seeking to help people from overseas.

STUFF THE BUS- All the Siena Catholic schools participate in Stuff the Bus, where we seek to stuff a bus full of food donations that go to St. Vincent de Paul food pantry here in Racine. We collect food the whole month of January, with a big push during Catholic Schools Week. In 2022 we collected 4,546.15 pounds of food between all 7 Siena Schools.

Mr Rogelio and Mr. Jerry doing service work at the YMCA

Siena Mission Day- adult volunteer day

Each year every person who works for Siena Catholic Schools do a day of prayer and service. The Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service is the only federal holiday that is also designated by Congress as a national day of service- a “day on, not a day off.” Participation in service activities has grown each year as more Americans are encouraged to provide meaningful change in their communities. Whether service meets a tangible need, such as fixing up a school or senior center, builds a sense of community or mutual responsibility.

The purpose of this day is to:

  • GATHER as a community of Adults

  • LIVE our Siena values of service, education, tradition, collaboration, innovation, and excellence

  • HONOR the Racine Dominican Pillars that have defined Catholic Education in Racine for nearly 200 years: community, service, study, and prayer