What Catholics are doing at the local level

There are a lot of Catholic organizations that come down to the Gulf Coast to help with various service projects. A group of students from Notre Dame came down to Pascagoula, MS the year after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf. They helped rebuild the coast by cleaning up the community and rebuilding homes and schools. These students came down on their spring break to help out families in need of homes and shelter. It was a very kind and caring gesture that people all along the coast will never forget. It showed us just how much Catholics care about each other and the environment we live in.

More and more schools have been helping out on the Gulf Coast and coming down on their spring and summer breaks to clean up and do other things. One Catholic high school from Illinois came to the coast one year and helped us clean up our school. They didn't even complain about their living arrangements in the RCS High School Gym. They put on a talent show for us and there was a dancing priest! Thank you to all that have helped the coast since Katrina.

How can RCS students and teachers be better stewars of Earth's resources?

Two years ago, Resurrection welcomed a new member to its faculty, Ms. Jeffcoat. She immediately noticed how little Resurrection did for the environment. Her first year at Resurrection she started Pascagoula Clean Up, where a group of students come together after school to pick up trash around Pascagoula. RCS students were inspired by the things she was doing. She started the 1st annual Earth Day Extravaganza at RCS. It was held on Earth Day and the outdoor lawn of RCS. Speakers from various organizations spoke to students, refillable water bottles and reusable bags were handed out, and healthy snacks were eaten. There was also a drawing for a tree. It was a really fun day for students at RCS! Ms. Jeffcoat and one of her students, Taylor Lawerence, started a recycling program at the school. Plastic water bottles in the cafeteria were now able to be recycled. Ms. Jeffcoat also has bins in her room for paper and plastic. Since her arrival on campus, RCS has become A LOT more environmentally friendly.

RCS can definitely improve on many things. First off, if you walk around the campus and look into classrooms, you will sadly find that Ms. Jeffcoat seems to be the only teacher that has bins for recycling. This is not good. If you look in the cafeteria trash cans, you will find plastic water bottles when the recycling bin to literally two steps away. This is EVEN worse!! As students of RCS, we have noticed that not all the teachers print back-to-back. This waste a lot of paper that could be used for other things. The windows at RCS should be opened a lot more than they are and the lights could be turned off more. Other than these few big problems, RCS is very eco-centric!!! "I make the environment a better place to live by educating others about humans connection to the natural world. This is done in both the classroom and in extra circular activities and through my interaction with a diverse group of people," Ms. Jeffcoat said. Thanks Ms. Jeffcoat for all the things you do to improve the environment at RCS!! YOU ROCK!!

Let's take a look at a school in Miami called Miami Northwestern Senior High. They won $250,000 in a contest because they had the most earth-friendly overhaul of a campus. They had major upgrades, including lighting retrofit, wind tribune, green roof, water systems that are more efficient, outdoor garden areas, and a brand new recycling program. They put cardboard boxes in every classroom and collected paper, cans, and bottles. Then, they hauled the goods outside themselves. Very good MNSH. Looks like RCS has a loooong way to go!!!!