Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry is made up of a team of students who are willing and always ready to listen to anyone in need, with the Core Team acting as the campus youth ministry leadership team. Starting in 1998, this team took on two responsibilities: The Big Brother Core Team which heads and directs the Big Brother Program, and the Liturgy Core Team which plans and executes the school liturgies and prayer services. Since then the Core Team has evolved to assisting in the areas of retreats, music ministry and multi-media. These students remain busy with Triduum (three days of prayer, reconciliation and religious activities) and many other special programs such as rallies, graduation, and special events. If there is anything you need or want, ask the Youth Ministry on campus, and they will do the best they can to assist you.

Liturgies

Liturgies are performed as a Catholic Mass by a Salesian priest in our school community or for special masses such as the Feast of Don Bosco – January 31 or the Feast of Mary Help of Christians – May 24, at which the Bishop or our Provincial usually presides. We also celebrate mass on Holy days of obligation as well as our Salesian Feast Days. Additionally, several prayer services which include reconciliation are held at various times throughout the year for everyone in our school chapel. Daily mass is celebrated at 7:25am Monday through Friday in our school chapel. On Thursday Mass is scheduled at 8:00am allowing for more sharing and fellowship with those in attendance. All students, faculty and their families are welcome.

Retreats

The retreats at Don Bosco Technical Institute provide students with a break from school studies and a chance to reflect on their relationship with God and the activities they have participated in throughout the years at Don Bosco Tech. The retreat environment emphasizes fun, group activities, the goodness of God, and personal reflection. Each grade level experiences a specific retreat geared for that class. During retreats, students are not pressured or required to participate. Participation is always up to each individual. The retreats are put together so that each participant has a good time enjoying the company of friends.

Freshmen attend a retreat coinciding with the Big Brother Program called The Salesian Experience designed to welcome them to our Don Bosco Tech community and family. The Salesian Experience is attended by 90% of all freshmen. The remaining 10% attend a smaller retreat geared for students who did not attend the first retreat. About 65 upperclassmen including girls from our sister schools, gather for this event to help our freshmen feel welcome and join in the retreat activities.

Sophomores attend their retreat at Youth Day, which is held annually on a Thursday as a precursor to the main Congress weekend usually held at the end of February or the beginning of March. All High school students are invited and many different cultural backgrounds from throughout the Archdiocese -- and beyond – come together to participate in morning and afternoon workshops, culminating in a Youth Rally.

Juniors attend a Social Justice oriented retreat which may be primarily reflective or may include a service aspect. These retreats are conducted in conjunction with their religion class. Religion Instructors help in providing service oriented topics for the junior class to participate in. Select juniors will attend a Kairos retreat to prepare for their Senior year’s Kairos retreats which are student lead.

As Seniors are now coming to the end of their academic school year, they are reflecting on many aspects of their life such as vocation and career, to name a few. We provide a 4-day and 3-night retreat called Kairos twice a year, which helps them reflect on their life.

Big Brother Program

For a freshman, the first day of school can be daunting. To ease this transition for new students, in 1987 Bosco Tech began to celebrate Tech Fest through the Big Brother Program which paired incoming freshman with upperclassmen at an ice breaking orientation event of sports and fun competition. Over the years, it has grown in its structure and participation and has evolved to what we now refer to as The Salesian Experience which has followed the Salesian philosophy and pedagogy while welcoming new students to our school community. The Salesian Experience consists two retreats created to help the freshmen ease the transition into high school and serves to welcome the incoming student to the Bosco Tech family in a fun and caring way. Your Big Brother will be a resource person for you during your crucial first semester at Bosco. You and your Big Brother will be a part of a larger group of Big and Little Brothers with a faculty Aunt or Uncle to help you out. The Big Brother program is a program where an incoming student is provided with an older student at Don Bosco who will teach and show his "little brother" around. The big brother watches over them and helps them fit in. On some occasions, the big brothers will take students out on local trips for fun to places like an amusement park, rallies, and school competitions.

This program provides incoming students with more knowledge about the school and the people there. So if a freshman has any problems, they can have somebody experienced to talk to and ask questions like, "Where are my classes?", and anything else they might want to know.

With each passing year the Big Brothers are trained through a peer ministry class which gives them a chance to develop the leadership and social skills which will serve them at Don Bosco and beyond. Steadily, our Big Brother program is enhancing our school's services for the youth. These services are in keeping with what Don Bosco called an oratory model where a boy can play, pray, receive an education and feel like he is at home.