Salesian Hearts is a service club at ILS led by Sr. Rosa Lopez. It consists of students from different Catholic middle schools coming to ILS and getting to experience a fun day of games and activities, as well as growing in their faith.

I have participated in two retreats so far this year for the school St. Rose Of Lima. I am an alumni from St. Rose, and I remember coming to ILS and getting to see the campus. I immediately knew that I wanted to come to ILS because of how much fun the Salesian Hearts made the experience for me. The purpose of these retreats is also for middle schoolers to have an opportunity of seeing the campus and consider the possibility of coming to ILS for high school.

Most of the games played at the retreats have a purpose and meaning behind them. They are made to teach the kids a lesson while having fun. The day starts off with everyone getting into groups (about 7 to 8 kids) and having ice breakers. Within the small groups, participants get to know the kids and ask them questions about themselves. Once the ice breakers are done, we come together again and start with the activities.

The most popular one in my group was when they had to lay on one another and we had to start removing chairs from under them. The purpose of the game is for them to trust one another enough to hold up the person sitting next to them.

When you remove a chair, it’s like removing your stability in life. Sometimes we have to depend on people to help us stay in place, but in this case, it is like us relying on God. God is always there for us. We just have to give him our trust. Towards the end there is time for Adoration. At Adoration they have a moment with God to reflect on how the retreat has been and read a letter from God. The letter from God is written in the perspective of Him as our Father. It makes the kids feel loved and experience a more personal connection during the retreat.

Doing these retreats has really helped me come out of my shell more and be able to communicate in a way where I have to show leadership. Salesian Hearts is the perfect club for having fun interactions and getting to impact someone’s day.