Good Work Program
As an element of our commitment to imagination and the development of the habit of empathy, our school has long focused on helping our students become agents of positive social change. We make an effort to connect our ideals with greater action and to apply our hearts’ desires to the work of our hands. Small groups of our students, accompanied by adults from our school community, develop partnerships with individual organizations by doing good work during three half-days spread throughout the school year. By “good work,” we are referring to the book of the same title that defines good work as “work of expert quality that benefits the broader society” (Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, & Damon). We work with more than 15 organizations, typically non-profits, in the greater Saint Louis metro area.
Good Work Service Trips
Crossroads students, parents and staff traveled to Joplin to help with the tornado recovery efforts. We worked with Rebuild Joplin and Americorps volunteers to clear debris where homes had been destroyed. We worked with the National Forest Service on trail building and maintenance in the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois.
Social Justice Club
Crossroads students, parents and staff traveled to Joplin to help with the tornado recovery efforts. We worked with Rebuild Joplin and Americorps volunteers to clear debris where homes had been destroyed. We worked with the National Forest Service on trail building and maintenance in the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois.
FOCUS Youth Leadership St. Louis
Youth Leadership St. Louis (YLSL), a program of FOCUS St. Louis, empowers the region’s youth to become future community leaders. Members of the sophomore class can be invited to apply to this year-long program that brings students together from approximately 30 urban, suburban, rural, public, private, and parochial schools from throughout the region. The students learn how to take leadership roles, appreciate each other’s differences, cooperate, and lead with other students from different backgrounds and experiences. Four members of the junior class were selected for this years’ class.
