Collier High School

From the Voice of Our Volunteers

Jan 25, 2022

Finding Simplicity in Everyday Life

Right before starting my GSV year, I could not tell you what simplicity meant, much less how I could apply it to my life. All I could do...

May 4, 2021

As a chapter ends, it's a gift to be part of a larger story

As I help prepare for end-of-the-year activities like senior team-building day, senior retreat and graduation, I feel as though I am...

Apr 21, 2021

Innate human dignity means broken bread, not broken bodies

I am incredibly grateful to have been fully vaccinated for just over a month now. To all those who worked tirelessly to make numerous...

Apr 6, 2021

'Get out from your head and get growing, dear child'

"Get out from your house, from your cave, from your car, from the place you feel safe, from the place that you are. Get out and go run...

Mar 24, 2021

With Collier Chats, I see our school through others' eyes

One tradition for Good Shepherd Volunteers at Collier High School is Collier Chats, lighthearted conversations with co-workers throughout...

Mar 10, 2021

Amid melting snow and warmer days, hope for a future harvest

The smallest hint of green in a patch of thick, brown soil. The puddles of melted snow bridging across the roads. The de-layering and...

Feb 24, 2021

The four tenets of Good Shepherd Volunteers keep me rooted

As I reflect back on the first half of my volunteer year, I am struck by how the tenets have kept me rooted when the pandemic has turned...

Feb 10, 2021

Planting seeds of strength with Amanda Gorman's inspiring poem

A task Collier High School students in studio arts undertake in a typical year involves painting the high school windows with a poem and...

Jan 27, 2021

Students show the courage, resilience needed for civic engagement

The opportunity to work alongside students through Model U.N. and to dive into the Collier community excited me, especially as many clubs...

Jan 13, 2021

Start 2021 by making room for the unexpected

Sighs of relief, heartfelt reflections and buckets of hope ushered in the first few hours of 2021. On social media, I glimpsed what many...

Dec 30, 2020

In a year of darkness and uncertainty, we are a people of hope

Despite the recognition and experience of deep suffering, I truly believe we are a people of hope. Looking back on different seasons of...

Dec 16, 2020

Intimidation, creativity and determination in a time of transition

"Down the hill" is a phrase I frequently use to distinguish my work as a volunteer in Collier High School and in the Collier Transition...

Nov 25, 2020

Creativity abounds. The trees know it.

I spent one of my first weekends as a volunteer in New Jersey surrounded by markers, colored pencils and posterboard and making too many...

May 30, 2019

What I've Lost and What I've Found

I always really liked the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” I elaborated on this a little once...

Apr 30, 2019

But Why New Jersey?? A Call to Serve as a GSV During Gap Year Before Medical School

[This post was originally delivered as a speech by Martina Penalosa at the 2019 Good Shepherd Volunteers Spring Benefit] A year,...

Jan 18, 2019

Three Good Things

As a Good Shepherd Volunteer at Collier High School, my days are filled with cold mornings, substitute teaching, quiet lunch duties, and...

Dec 15, 2017

A Season of Encounter

Throughout the school day, I often struggle to find the right words to say to our students. Sometimes they approach me or I just happen...

Dec 5, 2016

Autumn is a Fire

Autumn is a fire I never want to burn out. Autumn is a fire, calmly and quietly searing; starting from the tips of the tree branches, and...