St. John’s Eighth Graders Leave Their Legacy

When the eighth grade class at in Canton returned in September for their last year before high school, their teacher asked them: What will you leave behind?

Most of the students had been at St. John’s School, the parish school of , for 10 years. The school emphasizes Christian service, starting with community service projects in the first grade.

Eighth grade teachers Lauren Solomon and Christine Bowers always stress the importance of the final year at St. John School, Solomon said.

“We explain to the students this is their time to shine and to leave a lasting impression on the school,” Solomon said.

Eighth grader Christina Guccione did not know, at first, how she wanted to leave her legacy. Her mom, Sue Guccione, encouraged her to reflect on her time at St. John’s and see what stands out the most. For Christina, it was community service.

“Some kids hated it, but she was one who loved it,” mom, Sue Guiccione, said of the community service aspect of the curriculum at her daughter’s school.

Now, Christina will leave her legacy in the form of “Feet in the Street,” a community service project dedicated to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. The sisters have a motto by the same name, referring to getting out “in the street” and helping the community quietly and humbly.

“We were speaking to the students figuratively rather than literally, but we are very proud of Christina,” Solomon said. She added that though other eighth graders have not developed a project, they have all made a “nice impact on our school,” whether through speaking up against rules and policies or tutoring younger students.

Christina’s project was specifically dedicated to Sister Francis Marilyn, a nun at her parish and a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

“Sister Francis Marilyn made a significant impact on Christina,” Solomon said. “This is what St. John’s is all about.”

Sue Guccione remembers every detail of the story Christina told her after volunteering at an elderly home in fourth grade. “This is embedding something in her,” she remembered thinking.

And it did embed something: Christina’s project for this year’s Feet in the Street focuses on the elderly community. She planned and organized a free lunch for seniors at the .

Over 50 people packed into the dining room on a recent March afternoon and spilled out into the lobby. Additional people were shuttled in from nursing homes.

The residents enjoyed ham and cheese sandwiches on croissants, tuna salad, Italian subs, pickles and more, all prepared by Christina and her mother.

Ten other girls from Christina’s class volunteered to help. Christina and her mother decided to keep it girls-only, to better reflect the work of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

The girls sat and ate with the residents, too, and Guccione said they were surprised at how much they enjoyed it. Many of the girls just signed on to help carry food or set up, the Canton mom said, but they got more from it.

“They were so thrilled because people just enjoyed their company and were so grateful,” Guccione said.

The feeling was mutual.

The seniors enjoyed the lunch, too. They sent thank you cards saying how tasty the lunch was and how uplifting it was to spend time with the girls. “It was a great experience, even for me,” the mother said.

Looking at the room jam-packed with chatting girls and elderly residents, Guccione thought, “that’s what it’s all about."

“To me, it’s that early beginning, where you start to do it,” Guccione said of the community service. “If it plants a seed in just a few people, it’s a really good thing.”