Columbus Immaculate Conception School made a donation in the name of former student Seth Jenkins to the diocese’s St. Peregrine Fund in September with funds collected by students from a community service project during the 2024-25 school year.
A $3,626.85 check was presented to Bishop Earl Fernandes and the diocese’s Office for Pro-Life on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at the Chancery by Immaculate Conception principal Colleen Kent, teacher Margo Bjorkman and Todd and Wendi Jenkins, the parents of Seth Jenkins, a former Immaculate Conception student who died of cancer in 2010.
The St. Peregrine Fund was established in 2010 by Bishop Frederick Campbell and the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women as Catholics for Cancer Prevention and Cure. In 2016, the initiative was renamed the St. Peregrine Fund, which provides resources for cancer screening, ethical research and outreach to individuals and families in the diocese dealing with all forms of cancer.
Immaculate Conception’s Student Leadership Council members began brainstorming during an after-school meeting last year to decide how they were going to make a positive difference in the lives of others in the community.
The sixth-, seventh-and eighth-graders came up with a variety of important causes and groups of people to help. Groups of students presented their ideas and explained why theirs should be chosen. After several groups made the case for supporting a cause related to cancer, the rest of the Student Leadership Council members agreed with them.
Most everyone in the council knew someone who has or had cancer. Students knew that people fighting cancer needed support from others and that they could make a difference through a service-learning project.
The Student Leadership Council officers and advisers began to research cancer organizations in the community to partner with that would align with Catholic beliefs and values. It did not take long for them to discover the St. Peregrine Fund.
Mrs. Bjorkman, one of the advisers, remembered reading about it in The Catholic Times last year and found more information on the Diocese of Columbus website. On the website, there was a challenge to Catholic schools and parishes to create money-making events to raise funds for the St. Peregrine Fund.
This was a perfect opportunity for a service-learning project.
Both Mrs. Andrea Smith and Mrs. Bjorkman, the student council advisers, have embraced service learning throughout their time at Immaculate Conception School both in the classroom and through the Student Leadership Council. Several years ago, they both attended a summer professional development class titled “Making Learning Irresistible” along with about 10 other staff members. They gained valuable information about how to implement and guide students through service learning.
Mrs. Bjorkman and Mrs. Smith wanted to provide an authentic learning experience for the students by allowing them to empathize and understand what happens to individuals and families when someone has cancer. It was also very important to learn as much as possible about St. Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer patients.
The student council decided that on a school-wide penny war to raise money for the St. Peregrine Fund.
Photo courtesy Immaculate Conception.
A successful service-learning project involves an emotional connection with the recipients. In order to ignite the sense of empathy and compassion in the students, several guest speakers were invited to share their stories.
Mrs. Jenkins spoke to the Student Leadership Council about her son, Seth, the former Immaculate Conception student who died from leukemia when he was in eighth grade. The students learned about cancer, treatment and the toll it takes on families. She emphasized the importance of having a supportive community and how prayers help those dealing with cancer.
Carolyn Koncal Brenich, a childhood leukemia survivor, told the students about her cancer journey starting in eighth grade at Worthington St. Michael School. She has written a book called Faith, Hope and Cancer and shared many of the passages with the students.
She explained that cancer patients are often isolated and lonely. She encouraged the students to reach out to those who are suffering.
Carolyn shared how important her Catholic faith has been throughout her life. She was thrilled that the students already knew all about St. Peregrine when she visited.
Previously at an after-school meeting, the Student Leadership Council students had researched St. Peregrine and decided that it was important to teach the rest of the school about him and recite the St. Peregrine prayer together as a school during the penny war fundraising week.
After hearing from the guest speakers, students reflected upon what they learned.
“The guest speakers helped me understand what cancer does to you on a deeper level,” Jude Connelly shared. “I know that cancer drastically changes your life, but I didn’t think about troubles with transportation or friends.”
Sophia Henery added, “The guest speakers made the situation more real and showed what it was like from someone I met and talked to.”
The Student Leadership Council officers created a presentation to teach the rest of the school about the St. Peregrine service-learning project. They also organized and assigned the other members to various jobs and roles such as classroom teacher, morning announcements, prayer leader, advertising and money counter.
A week before the penny war began, Student Leadership Council members visited all the K-8 classrooms and explained the effects of cancer and many of the difficulties for individuals and families. They also taught them about St. Peregrine and the diocesan fund that they are supporting. They talked about Seth Jenkins, the boy whose signature is on the gym floor.
Each class was encouraged to help those with cancer through the St. Peregrine Fund by participating in the penny war the following week. At the end of the classroom visit, each student was given a St. Peregrine prayer card, and the entire class prayed it together.
Through these classroom visits and daily morning announcements, the entire school had a sense of purpose: to bring in as much money as they could for the St. Peregrine Fund and to help those with cancer in any way.
A special guest came to IC the week of the penny war. Grace Jenkins, a former Immaculate Conception School aide and younger sister of Seth Jenkins, visited each classroom to talk about her passion — bringing awareness to cancer and fundraising for research to end cancer. She showed students pictures of Seth and explained that he just wanted to be a normal kid. Grace encouraged the students to make a difference in their community by helping others and donating to the St. Peregrine Fund.
Through this service learning project, students were able to meet real people that had cancer or were affected by cancer. Not only did the students learn from them, they were able to empathize with those affected by cancer.
Students were deeply aware of the impact their efforts could make.
“This project makes a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer because it shows that they are not alone or forgotten and we are here to support them,” Violet Reineck explained.
Seventh grader Mallory Burns added, “Since we raised over $3,600, maybe someone’s whole treatment could get covered.”
Asked what she learned from this experience, Madalyn Steinbauer said, “I learned that everyone involved with cancer needs support, not just the cancer patient themselves.”
Stella Frost said she “learned the importance of giving to others and how giving can help people in need.”
Many students learned what happens to someone when they have cancer or how expensive the treatments can be.
Dylan Hernandez explained that “by donating to the St. Peregrine fund, we can help those with medical bills, transportation and medicine.”
Through this experience, many students shared that they want to make a difference in the lives of others by continuing to serve others in the community.
“If I know someone that gets cancer, I will show them that I am there for them,” Hayden Shea said.
Lola Bittner said, “I’m going to participate in more service projects so that I can help those in need.” Mayce Baird added, “I am going to try to raise money for cancer and other causes.” And Rowan Hand said, “I can pray for those with cancer.”
For the students, the project was both educational and transformative.
“I learned that with the smallest things we do it can mean a lot to other people,” Addison Zarco wrote. Violet Reineck shared, “It truly was an educational experience because it taught me the importance of service, love, applying faith into the community, and supporting people in need.”
Looking back, students spoke about what they would carry with them.
“I will remember most how powerful we all are when we join in community with each other to make an impact,” Kae’lyn Patridge reflected. “In the future, I will show more empathy towards those that have cancer or have had experience with it, because I never knew anything about cancer before this.”
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