JROTC Maintains Cemetery Markers for the Sisters and the Brothers

SGM David Berrisford
July 25, 2018

Cretin-Derham Hall JROTC students, Jack Patwell, Teagan Foley, Rory King, Joshua Nelson,  Isaac Yahn, Monica Calkins, Riley Cormell, Mary Andrzejek, and Samuel Andrzejek, accompanied by SGM David Berrisford, performed 64 hours of volunteer maintenance on the headstones of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the Christian Brothers on July 23-24. They also cleaned the graves of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne.

This service required the students to travel to both Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul and Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights. The cadets trimmed and weeded around each stone and cleared off any excess grass and soil to ensure each stone was visible to visitors. 

We have been blessed by the fact we have two religious orders that sponsor our school and who, over centuries, have given themselves to teach young people not only academics but also our Roman Catholic faith.  Speaking for both students and faculty, we are honored to do this relatively small task to help our sponsors.
 
JROTC is not only a leadership class, but also a class about citizenship. Volunteering time in service to the community is a cornerstone of our program.  In JROTC, we believe service is an obligation we have to others.  Not only is service to the community a JROTC value, but is also one of the core CDH values.