DRAPER — Juan Diego Catholic High School raised $1,000 during Catholic Schools week as a stewardship project for San Juan Diego Mission in Gunnison. The mission was dedicated Dec. 11 by Bishop George Niederauer of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, now archbishop of San Francisco. Father Hernando Diaz is the pastor of the mission, which serves parishioners from Gunnison, Centerfield, Marysvale, Fayette, Axtell, and Redmond. Fr. Diaz said there are about 4,500 people living in the region of the mission. Dr. Gabriel Colosimo, principal of Juan Diego Catholic High School, said his school was the beneficiary of a tremendous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Sam Skaggs, and the school wanted to reciprocate by giving the mission a donation at the time of its dedication and again as a stewardship project as their sister institution. "Juan Diego is an emerging saint in the Catholic Church, and there are now two entities in the diocese named for him," said Colosimo. Bobby VanCleve, Juan Diego Catholic High School student body president, said the school was excited to raise money for the mission. They raised the money by holding a competition between the classes. "There is a big rivalry between the classes when we have a fund raiser," said VanCleve. "Every one tried real hard to bring in as much money as they could. "This spring, the Juan Diego High School student council invited teens from the San Juan Diego Mission youth group to come to Draper to attend a dance, and spend the day getting to know many of our students," said VanCleve. "About 20 students from Gunnison came to Draper to spend the day. We picked them up in a bus and took them to play laser tag. They had never played laser tag before, so it was a lot of fun and a good experience. Later we ate dinner and attended our spring dance. Many of the Juan Diego students interacted with the students from Gunnison, and we bonded quite well. We called them a few days later to see how this experience was for them. They said they appreciated our invitation and were glad to have had the experience. The students in the mission youth group attend Gunnison High School." VanCleve said the students at Juan Diego High School learned to take responsibility to help others who may be in need. They also realized how privileged they are and what a great opportunity they have attending Juan Diego Catholic High School. "This experience taught the students at Juan Diego that we are privileged and we should be conscious of that and try to help others whenever we can," said VanCleve. "Even playing laser tag with the students from San Juan Diego Mission was an experience they had never had before, and it was great for the students from Juan Diego to give them that opportunity." Nate Williams, a junior and member of the Juan Diego Catholic High School ministry group Promised2 said they were also involved in hosting students from the San Juan Diego Mission youth group. Promised2 tries to provide service hours to groups, individuals in need, or organizations like nursing homes and the Utah Food Bank. They also try to lead by example by being good citizens, good students, and being kind to others like Jesus was, and show love and respect for others. "Michael Dente, Juan Diego’s art teacher, sculpted three-foot statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego," said Williams. "The statues are modeled after those Dente sculpted for our high school. Students went to Gunnison to present the statues to the San Juan Diego Mission. Fr. Diaz was very appreciative." Molly Dumas, Juan Diego advancement director, said the cumulative total of Christian service hours for the graduating class of 2006 since coming to Juan Diego is 24,977.
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