Members of St. Joseph School’s campus ministry organized the native plants they used to create Christmas wreaths. (Courtesy Chrislyn Villena)
By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Combining faith and cultural practices is practically a given in the racial and ethnic melting pot that is Hawaii. Add in fellowship and service, and you get the perfect recipe for an enriching project that fills the cups of both the participants and the people who benefit from it.
At St. Joseph School in Hilo, campus ministry director Chrislyn Villena saw an opportunity during the holiday season to engage her students in just that kind of activity — specifically, crafting Christmas wreaths from Native Hawaiian plants and then selling the final products as a fundraiser.
Villena, who is also the junior/senior high school theology teacher, said in an interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald that wreath-making was a skill she learned from her family that she wanted to share with her students. She also drew upon her experience in youth ministry to put the project into action.
In seeking ways to help the students apply their faith, the campus ministry team simply had to look out the window.
“They like being outdoors and being in nature,” Villena said, “and we have this beautiful island that allows us to pick from the rainforest and literally our backyard.”
Thus, guided by Villena, the students — ranging from seventh graders to high school juniors — embarked on a whirlwind project that went from gathering plants to selling out of their wares in just three days.
Villena said she is fortunate to receive support from St. Joseph’s head of school in pursuing her style of guiding students. In the case of this project, the youth went out into the forest on Dec. 13 to collect a variety of native plants — including ferns, liko lehua (the bud of the lehua plant) and ukiuki (a grasslike plant).
The day after they found their materials, Villena, the students and their parents gathered to assemble their wreaths. They wrapped the native plants around hay wreath bases to create unique, all-natural Christmas decorations.
Villena said most parents came to learn alongside their children, although one mother offered her own wreath-making style to the project.
The sense of pride from the students’ families was evident, Villena said, both in their reaction to the results (“Wow, you did that? You learned how to do that?”) and in their eagerness to learn the craft and to purchase the finished products themselves.
In addition to bringing the students together to work toward a common objective, the project had a more practical goal: raising money to help fund students’ participation in Big Island Youth Day in March and the Christian Leadership Conference on Oahu during the summer.
To that end, sales began the very day that the students completed their wreaths. They visited Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Papaikou on Dec. 14 and were so well-received during the Saturday vigil Mass, the wreaths nearly sold out.
The next day, they sold out of all their inventory at Malia Puka o Kalani Church in Keaukaha. Villena said that some St. Joseph School administrators purchased wreaths as well, and that the campus ministry team later gathered to quickly assemble more wreaths to meet additional demand.
The project also “shows how valuable our school is to our vicariate,” said Villena, who explained that St. Joseph School is the only Catholic school on Hawaii island.
One student who participated in the project agreed, saying that it “connected us to the larger Catholic Church because the parishioners were so amazed at the beautiful products we created.”
Villena and the students said they plan to continue the wreath-making project in the future. The fundraising aspect allows the youth to see the effort that goes into participating in meetings and conferences, but the togetherness that results from working toward a common goal is perhaps the greater reward.
“This was kind of our first bonding opportunity outside of the classroom and outside of planning the Masses, liturgies (and) prayer services,” Villena said.
The project is “exactly the kind of opportunity for (the students) to meet Jesus and to share culture,” said Villena, who added that she is grateful to be “co-journeying” with them.
