The week prior to Thanksgiving break every school year, St. Joe celebrates its annual and well-known Mission Week. Mission week is a week full of fun activities produced by each class, but is centered around supporting and giving back to the CSJs, the founders of our school, by raising money through various activities. Some of these activities include buying raffle baskets, being able to purchase food from some of your favorite restaurants along with some homemade goodies made by your fellow classmates, and of course, buying mission week swag!

As we head into this new school year with COVID restrictions, there are many unknowns about the future. However, one thing is for certain: St. Joe will still have a Mission Week. Even though it might be slightly different, Campus Minister Ms. Anna Hotop and class officers are working extremely hard to serve those in needs, while also making the time fun and remaining safe with the pandemic protocols.

“Mission Week is such a tradition here at St. Joe that it’s hard to think about it any differently,” Ms. Hotop said.

Sophomore Jane Mortlan agreed with Ms. Hotop that maintaining the tradition as well as a positive attitude is a must. 

“It might look different, but we’ll still have just as much fun,” Jane said. 

It is still very early, so exact plans are not definite yet, but ideas for this year’s clothes, activities, and food are all underway. The class officers have been planning since August and are hoping to order clothes soon.

However, even with alterations, people still have some questions regarding how Mission Week will be working exactly. These questions include:

Can people still purchase items from one another?

Will the Faculty Show still occur?

These aspects of Mission Week are currently being discussed and analyzed considering the current situation. Some possibilities include buying and selling things online, pre-ordering Mission Week attire, and having the Faculty Show happen twice for each half of the alphabet or making it virtual. Organizers know that the Faculty Show is most students’ favorite part of the week, and promise that will not be overlooked. 

Food items may be more difficult to sell in-person due to COVID-19, but selling non-edible trinkets such as bracelets and other items can still happen. Running to buy Mission Week clothing will not occur this year like usual, but pre-ordering clothing is a definite consideration. Alternatively, if you wait to order clothing until Mission Week versus, you might not have it for Mission Week. However, other items could be available to rock the entire week. 

Since the entire student body enjoys Mission Week, an idea is currently spreading about having a Mission Month. Interestingly, Mission Week did not originally begin as a week. In fact, it started as Mission Day, then extended to a week.  So, having a Mission Month could provide us with more time to do activities that revolve around the typical Mission Week. 

Some of the activities might be having different food trucks come to St. Joe or having a rock-paper-scissors competition (while still being socially distanced, of course). Also, if it is spread out over a month, that would allow students more opportunity to wear their mission attire. This idea is still up in the air, but it is the students who set the tone. Therefore, if we are excited with positive attitudes, we will all have a great time. 

Ms. Hotop and Campus Ministry want everyone to keep in mind that most importantly, we must remember the purpose of Mission Week is to support the CSJs and their causes.

While this year’s Mission Week will no doubt be different,  in the end, it is up to the students to make it as exciting as possible. If the student body approaches Mission Week positively and tries to make it as fun as they can, it will hopefully live up to the expectations of past years.