Pascagoula, Miss., is the destination for 12 Catawba College students who will participate in a mission building trip during part of their Christmas break, Dec. 13-19.
Catawba Chemistry Professor Dr. Mark Sabo organized the trip, which is co-sponsored by the college and his church, First Presbyterian in Salisbury.
The students will help with rebuilding efforts still ongoing after the Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. It will be the fifth such trip that Catawba students have taken with Sabo and volunteers from his church.
The students paid $50 each to help underwrite the trip costs. They will travel by van and will be housed in Sunday school rooms at St. Johns Episcopal Church in Pascagoula. The construction projects they will assist with are being scheduled through St. Johns Episcopal Church and First Presbyterian Church in Pascagoula.
A day trip to New Orleans is also planned so students can survey the damage which still remains in that city.
While on the trip, the Catawba students will share accounts of their experiences and photographs in a daily blog which will be available on the college Web site at www.catawba.edu.
Catawba students participating in the trip include senior Kenzie Brogden of Wilmington, freshman Sarah Devlin of Candler, senior Catherine Goodnight of Salisbury, junior Katie Hill of Fayetteville, senior Terri Hill of Lexington, senior David Idol of Kernersville, freshman Joshua Owens of Mt. Pleasant, sophomore Sarah Robinson of Cartersville, Va., freshman Stephen Ross of Fallston, Md., senior Megan Spidell of Salisbury, senior Brittany Tyner of Cameron and freshman Amanda Williams of Indian Trail.
Two other non-Catawba students who will participate in the trip include Matt Sabo of Salisbury, a freshman at Alma College in Michigan, and Matt Lerch of Haslett, Mich., a sophomore at Central Michigan University.
In addition to Dr. Sabo, other adults making the trip include Bob Harris, the construction manager who is “semi” retired from Piedmont Footings in Salisbury, and Mike Johnston, a construction supervisor who is a retired firefighter and EMT from Haslett, Mich.
Holidays approach, semester concludes at Catawba College
The Catawba College community is wrapping up the fall semester and making plans to celebrate the Christmas holidays.
Final exams are scheduled Dec. 8-12, and residence halls on campus will close for Christmas break on Friday, Dec. 12.
Most offices on campus will be closed for two weeks over the Christmas holidays, beginning Dec. 22 through Jan. 2.
The College Development, Admissions and Financial Aid offices will be open on a limited basis most days during the two-week Christmas holiday break.
The College Athletics Department will be open Dec. 27, 29 and 30 as Catawba hosts an annual area high school Christmas basketball tournament. College offices reopen Monday, Jan. 5.
In the School of Evening and Graduate Studies, registration for new and re-entering students begins Jan. 7. The first evening class for the spring semester is scheduled Thursday, Jan. 8.
Residence halls reopen on Sunday, Jan. 11, with registration for new students in the day program scheduled Jan. 12, and registration for returning students in that program scheduled Jan. 13.
Traditional day classes for spring semester will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 14.