Around 60 students filed into the large chapel at Gilmour Academy the morning of Sept. 30. The young men and women representing the three Holy Cross schools in the area, Hoban, Gilmour and St. Edward, gathered for the first-ever Holy Cross Leadership Seminar.

The presidents of each of the three schools had proposed the idea of a leadership day, and planning was soon under way. Associate principal Kevin Hillery met with Gilmour's Todd Sweda and St. Edward's Tom Beck to plan a leadership day. It would be centered around enhancing the students' sense of the Holy Cross mission, along with the sense of the individual mission of each school.

Hillery explained how the concept evolved.

"We thought if our three schools joined forces, then we could support and encourage each other," he said. "We could work together on things directly related to the Holy Cross mission."

This leadership idea was carried out when the three schools each sent a delegation of students involved in student government and campus ministry to the Gilmour meeting.

Hoban senior Kelley Holland attended the leadership day.

"I appreciated the fact that Gilmour was so hospitable," she said. "It opened its doors to us and allowed us the opportunity to meet other Holy Cross students."

The day began with a prayer service, in which students from each of the schools read from scripture and made petitions. Then they watched a film on the founding of Holy Cross schools.

Jared Smith, a student from Gilmour, thought the film helped him learn more about Holy Cross history.

"I learned that the Holy Cross tradition actually started in France, and I found out who started the first schools," he said.

Hillery thought the film was a good way to introduce the students to the Holy Cross institutions of the past.

"We wanted to spend part of the day relating to the Holy Cross tradition and history," Hillery said.

After that activity, students from each school examined their own mission statements and picked out parts that best represented their school's values. All shared their thoughts on what the different Holy Cross mission statements had in common.

One student from St. Edward, Aseem Garg, thought the activity was beneficial.

"I learned a lot more about the Holy Cross tradition, as well as about St. Edward's mission statement," he said.

Then students leafed through old yearbooks from their respective schools and found ways that they saw their mission statement being lived out.

"By doing this," Hillery said, "we were able to look at the missions of each school and see how the Holy Cross ideals are demonstrated through each mission."

After lunch, students were instructed to list all the cocurricular activities at their particular school. From the list, each school had to pick out activities that best exemplified the Holy Cross mission.

To end the day, all three schools gathered to present the activities they had picked. Then everyone discussed how each activity could be improved and how the schools could assist each other with the activities.

Hoban senior Mike Mure apprec iated the last activity.

"It was really good to be able to bounce ideas off each other," he said. "It was easy to be creative and original with the help of the other two schools."

Hoban senior Meagan Gambone said the seminar was useful.

"It was a good experience for all three schools," she said. "It was nice to be able to work with the Holy Cross schools."

Hillery thought the day was successful.

"The seminar did a good job of creating a better awareness of the Holy Cross mission," he said.

Hillery said he hopes to meet with Gilmour Academy and St. Edward again and to work with the two schools on some project in the near future.