KidSpirit is an international youth platform that gives young people from around the world a voice to explore life’s big questions through creative writing and art. Its work focuses on values, spirituality, and human connection — inspiring young people to reflect on meaning, purpose and empathy. Thanks to Fr Andrew’s encouragement, SJBC students have been contributing to KidSpirit for several years, with many articles and poems published online. This year, Dylan in Year 10 even received a KidSpirit Award for Poetry, recognising his thoughtful and creative work.
During the conference, our students joined workshops that encouraged reflection and creativity, writing haiku poems, discussing the meaning of time, and exploring the importance of stillness and reflection. They met young people from across America, Spain, Singapore and India, proudly representing the only UK school in attendance.
The group also took in some of New York’s most iconic sights, including Grand Central Station, the 9/11 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, The Edge, Rockefeller Tower, and St Patrick’s Cathedral. A highlight was enjoying dinner at a family apartment overlooking Central Park, and later experiencing Times Square during the Day of the Dead celebrations a vibrant evening filled with music, dancing and culture.
They also visited the Jewish Heritage Museum, learning about the Holocaust and the global Jewish diaspora, and spent a day at Salesian High School in New Rochelle. There, they met students, recorded interviews, and produced a feature for Radio Maria UK which will air in January to celebrate St John Bosco’s Feast Day a powerful reminder of the global Salesian family that connects our young people around the world.
The group stayed at The Leo House, the only Catholic hotel in New York, where they began each day with prayer in the chapel and attended Mass celebrated by Fr Andrew on Sunday alongside local parishioners. They also had the chance to see “MJ: The Michael Jackson Musical” on Broadway — an energetic, world-class performance that they all loved!
The trip concluded with the stunning KidSpirit Awards Gala, held on a rooftop overlooking the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline a dazzling evening of colour, food and celebration. It was a truly inspiring end to a trip that combined reflection, faith, creativity and adventure.
We’re incredibly proud of our students for representing SJBC with confidence, curiosity and kindness and for reminding us all that faith, friendship and creativity can connect young people across the world.
Recently, I went on a trip to the Ascension Church, which has taught me a lot, including that it is important to care for our planet. We only have one after all. On this trip, I was taught that it is important to be stewards of the earth because God made everything, and so we are to care for everything that God made.
During the tour of the Ascension Church, they told us that they were growing their plants for the benefit of all the insects. Karen even told us that she doesn’t like bugs too much, but she does it anyway. This shows us that it is good, even if we don’t like something, to care for it – to show stewardship for it because God saw that what He made was good.
We were also taught that, in the beginning, God gave us dominion and stewardship over the earth; so, it is important that we show our stewardship toward all things as we were given dominion (power) to do that.
There are many ways in which we can care for the gift of the earth that God has given us. The Ascension Church showed how that is possible through the use of solar panels that ensured the Church was always powered, showing us that there are better options than to use pollutive material that destroys the planet’s atmosphere. Their refill facility did away with plastic bottles, and their clothes bank showed how humans can use fewer of the earth’s resources by recycling. Our trip made it very clear that we can follow Pope Francis’ request to live more simply.
Individuals from my class were highly privileged to be picked for this exciting opportunity to travel out of London and visit this well known place of pilgrimage. We arrived at roughly at midday and we were greeted with the comforting atmosphere of somewhere holy. After enjoying our lunch we walked to the first chapel where we read different passages, as a group we were able to contribute in unity. After concluding our prayer service organised by Father Greg we were able to admire the statue of St. Jude and a stained glass wiindow of Mary. We were given a work sheet with multiple sculptures and forms of religious art where we could tick them off when we saw them. We encountered hundreds of pew rows where many people can worship on sunny days. Since this was located outside we could be more connected to God since we could look upwards and think of Heaven and the Lord. We were lucky to encounter the singular beam of sunlight hitting the Virgin Mary's statue even on a rainy, cloudy day. The sunlight was able to highlight the gold in the main part of the shrine which allowed us to honour her. Visiting the many chapels helped us grow in understanding the importance of religious art and how it can have an important impact on us. As a group we were able to walk around the site feeling tranquil and blessed. Father Andrew bought all of us duck food towards the end of our trip which allowed us able to have freedom and have fun. Walking around the small lake with many ducks reminded us about the fifth day of creation in Genesis where God created birds. The final thing we experienced was Eucharistic Adoration where we entered the Cloister Chapel in silence. This permitted us to pray for our loved ones and have a moment of peace to pray to God. We all enjoyed this time given to us and the opportunity we had to be connected to God for the day.
