This year the counseling department formed a new student club called the Just Because Club.  The students in the club choose random acts of kindness to perform in the school community.  They started with the 17 Days (of Random Acts of Kindness) before the December break with hope of including every member of the John Bapst community on one of the days with a random surprise.

They began by giving candy canes to everyone in the school, delivered donuts to each class year during a homeroom period, celebrated each of the faculty and staff departments, and even delivered Mr. Soucy’s holiday card right to his front door – with carolers no less – including a bunch of baritone basketball players from the varsity basketball team! (It was reported that this was a highlight of his semester!) They also  brought cookies for people, and delivered dog food, cat food, and pet toys to the Bangor Humane Society.

The JBC hopes to illustrate the intrinsic reward of helping others. Their next major project will be a Jeans for Teens drive to collect jeans which will be donated to homeless teens through Aeropostale.

The club was formed to give students the opportunity to perform positive deeds so they can get the intrinsic joy of helping others.  The ultimate hope is that random acts of kindness becomes more and more contagious among the John Bapst community providing a stronger and supportive school.

This club is open to all students and staff who are interested in participating, and has regular meetings.  Mrs. Manter and Mr. Umphrey are the co-advisors for the JBC.