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CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
In addition to great meals, special
initiatives have been prepared recently
in the Bellarmine College Prep kitchen.
While “going green” in the dining
areas for some may refer to consum-
ing more vegetables, it also speaks to
the school’s efforts to be mindful of
sustainability. That mission is evident
in such implementations as using
biodegradable napkins and serving
utensils and offering cage-free eggs and
free-range chicken.
October 8, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
What’s Cooking?
Chef Jeremy Soulia
Fair Trade coffee is being served,
with coffee grounds and other food
waste being used in the Bellarmine
Garden for composting and fertilizing.
The serving of plastic bottles on cam-
pus will soon completely be a practice
of the past, as more than a dozen bever-
age products previously sold in plastic
bottles are now served in cans.
Such efforts being undertaken by the
Liccardo Kitchen team, under the direc-
tion of chef Jeremy Soulia, and campus-
wide in partnership with Patrick Adams,
Green Initiatives Coordinator, are inline
with Bellarmine’s commitment to eco-
logical stewardship and solidarity with
creation, as encouraged by Pope Francis
in his encyclical, Laudato Sí – On Care for
Our Common Home.
The serving of healthier food op-
tions for students, faculty, and staff
and accomplishing further sustain-
ability goals, are ingredients for a
recipe that will have a lasting and
positive impact for the Bellarmine
community and beyond.
Saint Catherine Grads Take Robotics to Ghana
Two Saint Catherine School gradu-
ates, Grace Gallego and Zachary
Meagor, class of 2019, loved the school’s
robotics program. They also helped
with school service projects every year
to support the Awaso School in Ghana,
which was founded by Father Paul
Mensah who served at Saint Catherine
Parish for three years. Both Gallego and
Meagor were going on a parish mission
trip to Ghana during the summer and
they had a big idea – to take robotics
kits to the Awaso School and train
students and teachers how to use them.
Gallego and Meagor, along with
the school’s Educational Technologist,
Antonio Silva, put together a plan.
They reached out to other robotics
programs in the Bay Area and gath-
ered equipment that was no longer
being used. They also raised some
funds to purchase additional robot-
ics kits. They acquired six super kits,
a full competition field and a variety
of field elements. Additionally, they
presented their plan to the Morgan
Hill chapter of Rotary Club asking for
funds to ship the equipment to Ghana.
As things came together, they packed
up the materials and sent them to the
Awaso School.
Upon their arrival in Ghana, Gallego
and Meagor unpacked the equipment
before many anxious eyes. Gallego
and Meagor held teacher training/
mentoring sessions and presented five
full length workshops to students in
grades 3-8. Before they returned home
from their ten day mission trip, both
students saw many smiles on the faces
of the children of Awaso. Grace Gal-
lego is now a freshman at Presentation
High School in San José and Zachary
Meagor is a freshman at Ann Sobrato
High School in Morgan Hill.
Open House
Grace Gallego and Zachary Meagor with
two of the Awaso School teachers who
they trained.