When summer comes, you lose connection with everyone at school until the next year starts, and over the summer people do some things you wouldn’t expect.
While you were at home binge watching Netflix, you’d be surprised to find out what some of your fellow classmates did.

Maddie Hunt- sophomore
Q. How did you find out about the mission trip?
A. I found out about my mission trip through my church. My parents felt that they should start doing missions so they decided to lead the mission team.
Where did you go for your mission trip?
For my mission trip I go to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
How long have you been doing mission trips?
I have been going on this mission trip for 4 years now.
Did you go on the trip with anyone? Who?
My family, which consists of my dad, mom, and two sisters, and about 10 other people from my church.
What did you do on your mission trip?
We work with street children who were abandoned by their parents at young ages because they could not afford to take care of them. While the children are in school we do construction projects, such as helping to build the new school.
What was the highlight of your trip?
The highlight of my trip was seeing the God working through the children down there, and also seeing how much the children have matured from the first to the fourth year.
Anything else you’d like to add?
If you ever get the chance to attend a mission trip, DO IT. I promise you that you will not regret it!

Gabbie Fisher- sophomore
Q. What did you do over the summer?
A. I went to Poland.
Who did you go with?
A group of people from my parish and the Pittsburgh diocese.
How did you come across this opportunity?
When my church talked about World Youth Day.
What did you do on the trip?
I traveled around Krakow seeing religious buildings and relics as well as coming together with other Catholics.
What was your highlight of your trip?
Going to Auschwitz and seeing what the people went through every day.
Anything else you’d like to add?
World Youth Day was an amazing experience where 3 million Catholics came together. It was really eye-opening.

Emily Czonka- senior
Q. What did you do over the summer?
A. I went on a trip to Israel.
How did you come across this trip?
A Jewish leadership called Diller took 20 kids, including me, to Israel.
Who did you go with?
20 other kids, two junior counselors, and a coordinator. Then we met up with about 650-700 kids.
Have you gone before?
No I actually have never left the country before.
Do you plan on doing it again? Why?
Yes, I signed up again and am going, but as a junior counselor.
What was the highlight of the trip?
The whole thing was surreal honestly. But my favorite part was going to Jerusalem and going to the West Wall then we went to a marketplace to shop. I’m just really happy and proud of pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Overall it was just a really big growth experience. It’s hard to picture myself not going.

“

Just hanging out, sailing on the ocean with people I’ve known my entire life was something I wholeheartedly enjoyed.

— Caroline Tanner

Caroline Tanner- freshman
Q. What did you do over the summer?
A. I went on a trip to Cancun, Mexico.
Who did you go with?
I went with my direct family, my mom, dad, and brother, as well as my neighbors, the Bartek family, DiPasquale family, and half of the Jerich family.
What was the highlight of the trip?
I have to say the highlight of my trip was when our whole group went out on a catamaran to go snorkeling. Snorkeling the reef was an amazing experience within itself, but just hanging out, sailing on the ocean with people I’ve known my entire life was something I wholeheartedly enjoyed.
Did you do anything you didn’t do before? What was it?
Yes, actually. One day I tried out many different water sports that I hadn’t done before, like kayaking, paddle boarding, and we went out on this little sailboat.

Mr. Butler- teacher
Q. What did you do over the summer?
A. I ran a total of 250 miles.
Why did you run that much?
I’m willing to do anything, and it helps me relax so I decided to run.
Have you done anything like that before?
Yes, I ran a half marathon 3 years ago.
Do you plan on doing it again?
Actually I’m still going. I try to run three or four times a week at least.
Did you have to train yourself/work up to running so much? How did you do it?
I try and set aside time, and I’ve progressively worked up to where I am now.
How do you motivate yourself to do these things?
I don’t really know, but I know it’s not easy. I guess I just tell myself I have to do it.

Austin Micko- sophomore
Q. What did you do over the summer?
A. I swam with piranhas.
Where did you swim with piranhas?
In the Gulf of Mexico.
Who did you go on this trip with?
My dad.
How did this happen/come about?
I fell out of the boat on accident.
What was the highlight of the trip?
The fact that I didn’t know there were piranhas in the water till I got out.