Best of the Week 2018-2019: Holy Cross Values

SERVANT LEADERSHIP: CREW TEAM HELPS CLEAN MARINA IN CLEVELAND METROPARKS

Over the weekend, the St. Ed's Crew Team participated in a service project together, teaming up with the Cleveland Metroparks to clean the Marina on E. 55th Street. "I was eager to schedule a service project for the team that connected the athletes to the water in a different way outside of rowing," says St. Ed's Head Crew Coach Alan Meininghaus. Coach Meininghaus worked with Director of Service and Outreach Mr. Rick Kubrak '07 to come up with a service project idea that would be personal to the crew team while also giving back to the community. "When I met with Mr. Kubrak to come up with a service project idea, he mentioned his connection with the Cleveland Metroparks and I knew this would be a perfect fit for the team."

St. Edward High School has had a longtime connection with the Cleveland Metroparks and has done years of service through them to preserve Cleveland's parks and waterways. Collaborating with the Cleveland Metroparks was a natural connection for the crew team, allowing them to give back and help keep clean the waters they're so familiar with. The St. Ed's Crew Team and coaching staff worked with staff members from the Cleveland Metroparks to search up and down the banks surrounding the E. 55th Street Marina and collected trash washed up as a result of consistent changes in the water level. With gloves, mechanical grabbers, buckets and trash bags, the team was able to dispose of any trash they could find that could have ended up back in the water.

"The experience the team received from their service was an excellent example of Servant Leadership and brought awareness to the importance of keeping the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie clean. The river and lake are exploding with positive activity right now, but along with that activity, we need to be mindful of the condition and quality of the water that the community is exploring," says Coach Meininghaus. "Through this project, St. Ed's Crew Team encourages others to help clean up Cleveland's waterways. The biggest takeaway from this experience was seeing just how much trash from the city can find its way downstream and on the banks and beaches here in Cleveland, but the biggest thing that I and the coaching staff enjoyed the most was seeing the teamwork amongst our athletes to conquer this project together."