Sister Mary Patricia Plumb, Campus Minister,  announced in a high school assembly on Wednesday, December 1,  the names of the four Academy students who have been selected to attend the SNJM Youth Summer Project, to be held in Seattle in July and  sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Names (SNJM).   Sophomores Siobhan Plummer and Allie Reichert and freshmen Hayley Allmand and Maddie Babin will represent the Tampa Academy as one of nine SNJM schools, including one from Lesotho in southern Africa.  Alternates are Mica Wiley and Mariah Diaz.

The students, accompanied by Sister Mary Patricia Plumb, will receive an all-expense paid trip to Seattle from July 17-23, complete with a stay at Holy Names Academy in Seattle.  They will do community service in the Seattle area and become familiar with the SNJM stand on global issues, especially regarding human trafficking and water.

Selection for this social justice opportunity was limited to two rising sophomores and two rising juniors. Applicants wrote an essay describing how they would bring  the values taught at the SNJM Youth Summer Project back to their Academy community, and they each collected two letters of recommendation attesting to their outstanding character from teachers, youth group leaders, and other adults. The selection committee had the hard task in choosing the twelve finalists for interviews and then finally deciding on the four girls, along with two alternates.

Two summers ago, the Sisters of the Holy Names hosted their first summer program for high school students from five of our high schools in the United States and Canada.  Next summer, representatives from nine high schools will attend, including students from Lesotho (Africa).  Each Holy Names school will financially contribute, as will the SNJM community, so that students will be able to attend gratis.

At the conference, students will learn about SNJM history, Blessed Marie Rose, and the SNJM Justice and Peace Network. They will receive a better understanding of SNJM Justice and Peace Network Corporate Stands, including those on human trafficking and water. The Sisters hope students, inspired by this program, will become social justice leaders in their schools, putting education into action, and will make life-long commitments to social justice worldwide.