As the new school year kicks off, students may have been able to recognize a few changes around campus. One of the biggest changes has to do with O’Donnell and the beloved Student Life Center: Campus Ministry has swapped offices with the deans and Mrs. Shanley for a few reasons.
Explaining the process of the entire project, Mrs. Shanley said, “It was a master plan to move the Campus Ministry offices to the first floor of SLC and the dean’s offices to O’Donnell. It was a brilliant idea because this move made Campus Ministry more visible.” Mrs. McCullough said, “it made sense to have Campus Ministry where the students were hanging out so we could be there and interact and minister to them.”
Though the change is positive, there were a few problems along the way, especially in terms of moving furniture and belongings right before the school year began. This was especially tough on Ms. Shanley. She said, “The hard part for me was the timing of this move because I was in the middle of freshman orientation, which takes me many hours to work on, so I had to move right after [it] was over.” Freshman Orientation requires much work as it is the freshmen’s first time on campus as students and is responsible for helping them get comfortable with a high school environment. Mrs. McCollough encountered similar problems, but felt the process was worth the result. “There were a couple of things lost from moving over from O’Donnell, but I was generally excited with the move,” she said.
Now that everything is in place, both the Campus Ministers and deans are pleased with the decision, due to the many advantages that each side now experienced. Ms. Shanley appreciates the peacefulness of O’Donnell. She said, “I am farther away from students, but it’s so much quieter in O’Donnell. I have a better office where I can have meetings in, and I also like the fact that I have a window where I can see what’s going on outside.”
Although switching offices required much work, Mrs. McCollough thought engaging more in students activities was more important. “We were next door to CSP, whom we liked working closely with. We’re further away from them but we have a lot more advantages of being right next to students [and connecting] with them,” she said.
Overall, though both sides of this changed experienced some complications, they believed that there were only positive things to come from this switch. Ms. Shanley and the deans’ offices are now located on the first floor of O’Donnell while Campus Ministry occupies the first floor of the Student Life Center.