Campus Ministry at Clearwater Central Catholic High School exists to make God known, loved and served on our campus and beyond. CCC is a ministry of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, so our school maintains an intentional and personal relationship with the Office of the Bishop, the Office of Catholic Schools, and the entire Pastoral Center of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. We strive to be connected to all Catholic parishes and elementary schools in our Upper Pinellas location as we seek to build the Kingdom of God, both locally and globally. One other vital relationship with CCC and the Office of Campus Ministry is the partnership that we have with the Sisters of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio. For 34 years (1971-2005), the Sisters of Notre Dame administered and ministered on our campus. Though no Sisters remain, we desire to stay connected to their charism of, “the Good and Provident God,” who empowered the foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Sister Maria Aloysia (Baptismal name, Hilligonde Wolbring) along with her friend, Sister Maria Ignatia (Elisabeth Kuhling) to come to the United States from their native Germany in 1874 and eventually to CCC in 1971. Along with the Spiritual Mother of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Saint Julie Billiart, the Office of Campus Ministry witnesses to the fact that “God is Good, all the Time!”
Director
Director of Campus Ministry – Mr. Andy Shannon has served as the Director of Campus Ministry at Clearwater Central Catholic High School since 2012. Mr. Shannon is a native Floridian and a local product of our Diocesan schools. He has been in the ministry of Catholic education for over 29 years and earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Notre Dame. In the summer of 2017, Mr. Shannon was selected as one of twenty Catholic educators nationally to participate in the Anti-Defamation League’s Bearing Witness Advanced Program where he traveled to Israel for ten days. Mr. Shannon has been married to his wife, Erika, for more than 20 years and has two children, Sean and Carmen. Mr. Shannon is a parishioner at the Cathedral of Saint Jude, the Apostle in Saint Petersburg.
Campus Ministry
Under the supervision of the Dean for Personal Growth, the Director of Campus Ministry helps create an environment at CCC which encourages and guides all members of our community to contribute to the Catholic identity of our campus. Drawing from the resources of our connection to the Diocese of St. Petersburg and the Sisters of Notre Dame (Chardon), the Director of Campus Ministry collaborates with the administration, faculty, staff, parents and especially, students to develop a campus rich in the school’s charism and connected to local church life. All of these efforts are directed to and from Jesus Christ and are supported and reinforced by Sacred Scripture and the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church.
Campus Ministry First Semester Calendar
Campus Activities
Liturgies
At CCC, the Eucharist is The Source and Summit of our communal worship experiences. Our faith community comes together at least once a month on Feast Days and other Holy Days to experience the Lord in His sacrament, in His word, and in His priest and people.
Masses
CCCHS gathers around the Eucharistic table once a month in the White Family Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Holy Days or other prominent Feast Days. The Eucharist is the source and summit of all Sacraments and our community takes great solace in knowing that we encounter Jesus Christ in four distinct ways through the Mass. Those ways are in His Body and Blood, His Word, His Priest and His People. Students are encouraged to take liturgical leadership roles through the Ministry of Altar Servers, Readers, Gift Bearers and Music Ministers. Our School Chaplain alternates with other area priests to preside at these liturgical celebrations. Our hope is that our Masses are the one, true sign that Jesus Christ is the Reason for this School.
Prayer Services
CCCHS comes together periodically on the Hurley Quad (outside of the Main Hurley Building) as a community to remind ourselves about the centrality of God in our school. These prayer services often revolve around our special charism as a school in the tradition of the Sisters of Notre Dame as well as the Liturgical Year. For instance, we like to gather on October 1, which is considered Foundation Day or the day that the Sisters of Notre Dame of Coesfeld, Germany came into existence. Advent, Holy Week and St. Blasé day are other moments in time where our school community pauses to remind ourselves of God’s Goodness and Provident Love.
Chapel
Our campus chapel is currently housed in a room adjacent to the Matz Music Room. God willing, in the fall of 2020, we will consecrate our new chapel. The chapel is open every day while school is in session and maintains the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Tabernacle as well as images of the Stations of the Cross and a Reliquary dedicated to Saint Julie Billiart, the Spiritual Mother of the Sisters of Notre Dame. Individuals, classes, student clubs, and athletic teams make regular use of our simple yet beautiful chapel. Campus Ministry also promotes a monthly Holy Hour (September – May) on the 1st Wednesday of the Month, where the Rosary is prayed for the intentions of our students and families.
Annual Retreats’
CCC is dedicated to providing an annual retreat for all students. For the underclassmen, this retreat day is offered on-campus and will be led by trained student peer ministers. For many years, the Senior Retreat has occurred off-campus at a local retreat center. This overnight retreat affords seniors time and space as they begin to make their transition away from their high school experience.
Outreach
Catholic Christians show their love for God by loving their neighbor. Mission Thursday, a student-driven weekly collection, aims to advance the Gospel in Mission Lands by providing financial support for basic human necessities, especially to the poorest of the poor as underwritten by the Diocesan Office of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith as well as the Global Mission Office of the Sisters of Notre Dame. In seven years (2013-2020), CCC has raised over $36,000 for the Catholic Missions. CCC also participates in local charitable drives such as the Thanksgiving Food Drive (which benefits the Clearwater Chapter of the Society of Saint Vincent DePaul) and the Lenten Soap for Hope, which collects undergarments and toiletries for the residents of Pinellas Hope. Campus Ministry also promotes a monthly Holy Hour, where the rosary is prayed for the intentions of our students and families.
Student Communities within Campus Ministry
Peer Ministry
Peer Ministers utilize their God-given gifts to influence CCC students to grow closer to God. The Peer Ministers help facilitate the student retreats on campus by leading witness talks and small group discussions. Peer Ministers apply in the spring of their sophomore and/or junior year, are interviewed and then appointed through the Office of Campus Ministry after approval from School Administration.
Morning Star Amigos
Morning Star Amigos is a CCC student club operating under the Office of Campus Ministry that fosters a strong bond between our school and Morning Star Catholic School of Pinellas Park, so that both of our schools may enrich each other. Morning Star Catholic School, a Catholic School of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, recognizes the unique educational needs of students. Morning Star provides an ungraded curriculum in which students with special learning needs can achieve their full potential.
Catholic Relief Services Establishes 1st Catholic high school chapter at CCC
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), has chosen Clearwater Central Catholic High School to establish the first Catholic high school chapter in Florida. The purpose of the School Chapter shall be to educate and advocate on CCC’s campus specific social justice and global poverty issues such as, migration, climate change, global hunger, and human trafficking. CCC has agreed to this partnership and will serve as the first, Catholic high school in Florida with this distinction.
The CRS Student Chapter of CCC will be led in its initial year by the following student leaders:
Co-Presidents – Adrian Botouroglou ’22 and Riley Deputy ‘22
Vice President – Derek Porcelli ‘22
Co-Secretaries – Sarah Incardona ’21 and Grace Maynard ’21
Student Chaplain – Aubrey Geiss ’21 and Daniel Lahuti ‘22
CCC’s CRS Faculty Liaison is Mr. Andy Shannon, CCC Director of Campus Ministry, ashannon@ccchs.org, 727-531-1449 ext. 338.
CRS Student Chapter Meetings will take place the 2nd Thursday of each month (September to May) from 3:00 – 3:30 P.M. in the McLaughlin (MAC) Center.
For this school year, CRS has stipulated that CCC initiate two (2) Advocacy Initiatives and two (2) Stewardship Initiatives (of which CCC’s longtime participation in Operation Rice Bowl will count as one). Student Leaders will decide the other initiatives.
Catholic Relief Services has been a leading international humanitarian agency since 1943. Highly trusted and globally respected, CRS partners with people, organizations and governments around the world to end poverty, disease, hunger and injustice—always based on need, not creed. Guided by the belief that we are all one human family, CRS puts humanity first.
An organization of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, CRS is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. For more information on CRS visit crs.org or call 877-435-7277.
CRS is led locally by Mrs. Angelica “Vivi” Iglesias, Community Engagement Manager, Mission and Mobilization, vivi.iglesias@crs.org, 727-687-4964
CCC’s CRS Faculty Liaison is Mr. Andy Shannon, CCC Director of Campus Ministry, ashannon@ccchs.org, 727-531-1449 ext. 338.
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