Today was an eventful day. First, we made significant progress on our library, and almost completed it. Then, we split off into the classrooms, where I was in a fourth-grade class with Sam, Kennedy, and Chris. The students had free time, which allowed us to bond with them. After that, Kennedy, Sam, and I went to another classroom with the students with a teacher named Ms. Simms. The students practiced their reading comprehension skills, and they were pretty well behaved for her. After Ms. Simms’ class, they went back to their home room for the end of the day. Once the school day ended, Sam, Kennedy, and I went to another classroom to help Ms. Atkins tutor a few students. The students caught up on their homework, and then they had some time to play educational games. One of the students was acting up, so Ms. Atkins pulled out her yardstick, which she called “Sally Sue.” She didn’t use it of course, but it definitely got the student to behave. We ended up finishing up the day with a trip to a local coffee shop, called Coffee Hub, and laser tag, which was really fun.

-Jes Cunion

Today our group had the privilege of continuing to work with the Saint Benedict the Moor school. We got the day started off with moving lots and lots of books and making a new library for the students and staff. Although we didn’t finish today, we definitely got off to a strong start… Tomorrow the journey continues! For the rest of the day, we got to attend the school mass and go into the classrooms and help with topics of math, science, and literacy across grades 2-7. Once the school day wrapped up, we got to continue to build relationships with our students in their tutoring sessions. We took a fun visit to Duck Donuts (the best donuts to exist) and indulge in our sweetest dreams! We wrapped up the day with some delicious Dayton pizza from Hannah’s family (big shout out to them)!!! Our school adventures will continue tomorrow, but until then, goodnight! 

-Kennedy James

Our first full day in Detroit, we woke up and Hannah and I made breakfast for everyone – bacon, eggs, and toast. After eating and cleaning up from breakfast, we took to the town, heading down to the river where we saw across to Canada. We all forgot our passports, so we aren’t including going to Canada in our trip, but we are still enjoying it nonetheless. Fr. Bill attended the last Mass this morning while the rest of us continued walking around Downtown. We got Mexican food for lunch after enjoying coffee from two different places. Everyone except for Kennedy ordered the exact same thing for lunch – the tamales. After Mass was over and the Church was empty, we worked with Tod again and cleaned out one of the rooms on the choir floor and steamed the carpet. We had some downtime where some of us played cards, read books, or napped. For dinner, Kennedy made delicious flatbread pizzas. We’re looking forward to good weather again tomorrow, and being able to help out and clean the inside of the Church more!

-Sam James

Our day started bright and early this morning, although not as early as the other two trips. We loaded up the van outside of the chapel and were off around 9 am this morning! After a stop along the Ohio Turnpike to get some Starbucks and Burger King, we arrived at Old St. Mary in Detroit around 1 pm. We were welcomed by our hosts, Fr. Godfrey and Tod. They had a wonderful lunch of spaghetti, salad, and bread waiting for us. After unloading the van and eating lunch, Tod gave us a tour of the rectory and church and showed us what we will be helping with during our time here. It was wonderful to meet Tod and hear some of his story. He is the only person on the maintenance staff for the church and he has been working at Old St. Mary for about a year and a half. Our first project this afternoon after the tour was to organize the third floor of the rectory. The third floor of the rectory had basically become the attic and storeroom for a variety of paintings, documents, and furniture. We even found a dead bird which Fr. Bill bravely deposited into the trash can! It was a team effort, with Fr. Bill and Jes wiping down the picture frames before Kennedy and I organized them while Sam and Chris organized the furniture. After we cleaned up the third floor and cleaned ourselves up, we went to Mass. The congregation was very welcoming, and the church is so pretty! Since the weather was so beautiful, we decided to take a stroll around Greektown in search of dinner. With it being a Saturday night, every restaurant was busy, so we settled for Five Guys followed by ice cream from Cold Stone. We finished our evening off with some card games! So far the trip has been a blast and filled with lots of laughter. I cannot describe how wonderful it was to organize the third floor of the rectory for Fr. Godfrey and Tod. While it seemed like an insurmountable task at the beginning, many hands make light work and we completed the task in much less time than I thought we would. As Fr. Bill said, it truly was a “mission trip miracle.” I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds and to grow closer to my fellow tripmates!

From Motor City,

Hannah L.