On Monday, January 9, fifth former Wes Schlauch kicked off the week with an incredibly moving Chapel talk that concluded with a thunderous standing ovation from the entire Hill community. In February 2010, Wes suffered a stroke; after 18 months of hard work and a positive attitude, Wes returned to The Hill as a student for the start of the 2011-12 school year and has made a tremendous impact on the community since his return.
Read Wes’ Chapel talk.
Members of the Green Initiative and Community Service programs spent time last week collecting clothing, toiletries, and other supplies to donate to the Pottstown Cluster, which helps local families meet basic needs. In all, 315 pounds of coats, scarves, and blankets and 125 pounds of toiletries were collected and donated to the Cluster as part of the
Winter Clothes Drive.
On Thursday, members of the Honor Council performed a skit during the normal Chapel period in the C.F.T.A. as part of Honor Awareness Week. In addition to the skit, members of the Honor Council promoted honor awareness with daily discussion questions presented at lunch, and also held a scavenger hunt for students to find the 20 Honor Council logos hidden around campus.
The annual food fair was held in Mercer Fieldhouse on Saturday night. At the Food Fair, students and faculty volunteer to prepare dishes for various categories of food; international students often make food from their home country for the community to sample. Money raised at the Fair benefits the Pottstown Cluster. The sixth form also held a “disco skate” on Saturday night to raise funds for a class gift.
On Sunday afternoon, more than 20 area churches and synagogues gathered in the C.F.T.A for the annual
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. A community choir including several Hill students sang at the celebration and featured a moving solo from Tiffany Gordon ’12. Ben Walsh ’12, vice president of the sixth form, read Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and Raye Sosseh ’12, president of the sixth form, read the final speech Dr. King gave prior to his assassination.
The week concluded with a third form social and a Sadie Hawkins dance for fourth, fifth, and sixth formers in the Student Center on Sunday night.