Campus Ministry
Campus Ministry is a vibrant component of our Upper School community encompassing liturgy, service, and retreats, and promoting each student’s faith and spiritual formation.
Service
Our Upper School students are committed to service in our community and volunteer with dozens of organizations including:
- St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy
- Catholic Charities
- Response to Love Center
- The Teacher’s Desk
- Vive Shelter
- Journey’s End Refugee Services
- FeedMore WNY (Food Bank)
- Ronald McDonald House
Each student completes 80 hours of community service as a graduation requirement, with specific requirements for each year. Students use the online platform Mobileserve to log and keep track of their service hours. More information on service requirements can be found by clicking here.
Service-Immersion Experiences
Nardin Academy High School students have the opportunity to participate in week -ong "Nardin Serves the World" service immersion trips domestically around the United States and internationally in Central America.
- International Service: For the last several years our students have traveled to Granada, Nicaragua with International Samaritans. As part of this transformative service-learning experience, students engage in hard physical labor building concrete block homes for the community's poor.
- Domestic Service: Week-long service trips to areas such as Cincinnati, Ohio, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, and right here in Buffalo, NY serving the hungry, the homeless, and the marginalized.
Liturgy
We celebrate mass as a community about once a month and on Holy Days of Obligation. We also hold several liturgical services throughout the year, including our Thanksgiving interfaith prayer service, Lessons and Carols, Advent Prayer Services, and Reconciliation Services during Lent. Students take primary roles in both liturgy and music ministry.
Retreats
Each student at Nardin has the opportunity to attend a retreat every year they attend Nardin. Each retreat is student-led by seniors and allows each student to pause, reflect, and grow. The sequence of retreats is highlighted below:
Freshman Retreat
The Freshman Retreat is a class retreat that encourages students to reflect on their first year at Nardin, paying particular attention to the relationships in their life.
Sophomore Retreat
The Sophomore Retreat is a class retreat centered around the Gospel story of the Two Foundations (Matthew 7: 24-29). Students reflect honestly about the “foundations” in their life
Kairos
The Kairos retreat has a long history in Catholic high schools and colleges. Kairos is new to Nardin and is offered to juniors three times a year. Kairos is a three-day, two-night retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. On Kairos, students will reflect on their relationships with others, self, and God. The retreat also challenges students to heed the call to servant leadership.
Senior “Portrait of a Graduate” Capstone
This unique, individual retreat allows students to reflect on their time here at Nardin in the context of traits of the “Portrait of a Graduate.” Each student creates a 10-15 minute presentation based on their reflection and presents to their classmates in their religion classes.
Any questions can be directed to Tom Whalen, the Director of Campus Ministry, at twhalen@nardin.org
Guided by the examples set by our founders, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, a commitment to service work and global citizenship is at the heart of our daily life.
