By Ulises Araiza ’11
THE ROUNDUP
About 20 Brophy students ranging from sophomores to seniors engage in a back and forth conversation in room K-10 in early January trying to get the last minute details ready for this year’s Summit on Human Dignity.
This group of students, officially known as the Student Summit Planning Committee, has been working hard since October to offer students a Summit they can not only relate to, but enjoy and learn from to make changes in their life.
There are around 15 to 20 consistent members in the committee, but altogether there are around 25 members if committee contributors are included.
“Everyone who applied for the committee was put on the committee,” said Chairman Danny Wilson ’10.
The committee was put together back in September and has been meeting consistently since October.
It is headed by Assistant Principal for Ministry Mrs. Kim Baldwin and Mr. Patrick Kolb. Their roles as faculty mentors are to support, oversee and offer ideas to the student planners.
At first the committee was meeting every couple weeks, but as the Summit draws closer they have been meeting weekly in order to get last minute details nailed down.
“Working on the committee is very fun because we have a great group of guys working on it and it is also proving to be a very educational experience for me,” said Eric Chalmers ’10. He is leading the committee’s job fair, which attempts to open students eyes to the real world they will encounter after high school.
One aspect of last year’s Summit that the committee chose to keep is the workshop day where students preselect what workshops they participate in out of a larger list.
“We kept the workshop day because of how popular it was last year,” Wilson said.
This year guest speakers from the Phoenix community will be coming in to discuss how the economic situation is affecting Arizona and its inhabitants.
Aside from the job fair, the student planners have also contributed ideas for the Summit’s field trips and workshops, which include a day trip down to Mexico and an OFJ lock-in that centers on a 24-hour fast and solidarity with the poor.
“They actually were the ones who came up with the idea for one of our main speakers … and they are the ones who came up with the campus centerpiece,” Mrs. Baldwin said.
Wilson, Chalmers and the other Summit planners hope students see the direct relevance the Summit has to their lives.
“They’re great,” Mrs. Baldwin said. “They’re committed, excited, have lots of great ideas and they are really coming from a place of wanting to help and serve at the Summit as a success from the student perspective.”