On Wednesday, November 15, Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana held its third annual Lend a Shoulder Day. Nearly 100 business and civic leaders and organizations throughout the community headed out to three Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana network schools to connect with students, learn more about these schools’ programs, and discover what they can do to ensure every student’s success.
Since 2019, Big Shoulders Fund has partnered with the Catholic Diocese of Gary to provide their 19 schools with more resources and access to opportunities to continue to provide students with a high quality, values-based education.
“Our partnership with Big Shoulders Fund is deeply important to us. They support us in all kinds of ways whether that’s through merit or need-based scholarships, teacher development, or even giving us small tokens to show that we’re appreciated and valued. Big Shoulders Fund is always present and always willing to offer a hand. We appreciate them so much,” said Jaycob Knazur, principal at Andrean High School.
In addition to investing money, Big Shoulders Fund continues to support these schools by creating opportunities for community members to learn how they can make a difference. Lend a Shoulder Day is one of those key opportunities.
This year’s event was Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana’s largest Lend a Shoulder Day yet. Andrean High School, Aquinas Catholic Community School, and Queen of All Saints School all invited community members to come visit and they did not disappoint. The Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana team was proud of the amazing turnout.
“It’s truly a testament to all the work our schools, teachers, and principals are doing to maintain the high-quality education these kids deserve. It’s also a testament to the work that Big Shoulders Fund has done here in the region to grow its profile and increase awareness of its mission. We just want to keep getting the word out there to the business community that there are ways to get involved and support these students,” said Dan Kozlowski, Managing Director at Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana.
Throughout the day, community members got to connect with students of all ages and experience school in a completely new way. They sat in on several different classes to see for themselves the quality of education the students are receiving. Students also took the visitors on engaging tours of their school so they could gain a better understanding of the school’s atmosphere. The visitors even got to help the students with fun projects like building sailboats and creating pinch pots.
Kozlowski continued, “This event gives people who want to get involved a unique perspective. They get to come into the classrooms, connect with the students, and see the work being done first-hand. It’s a life-changing experience. Every year, I see dozens of community members talk with these students and discover that they want to get more involved; seeing that happen is a reward within itself.”
Josh Hale, President and CEO at Big Shoulders Fund, was deeply touched by the students he met throughout the day. He found their excitement and eagerness to learn extremely uplifting.
“In a world where there are an infinite number of challenges, getting the chance to come to a school like this and meet these young people who are excited about the future is refreshing. They’re up for the challenges—they want to fix things and make them better. I’m confident that with students like this adding to the conversation and discussion about what happens in our country they’ll solve the issues that face us. They give me hope,” said Hale.
Hale hopes that every community member who took part in Lend a Shoulder Day was able to see for themselves why supporting these schools and students is extremely important to the future of our community. He encourages everyone to go out and find ways in which they can lend a shoulder.
“There are so many children in our community who have the talent and the ambition, but what they need is access to opportunity. Too often resources are not spread equally amongst students. It’s up to the people in our community who have resources to look at the children who come from low-income backgrounds and ask themselves, how can we make sure they’re successful? What would we do for our children that we should do for every child?” said Hale.
To end the day, the elementary students at Aquinas Catholic Community School handed out roses and sang a special song for the community members to thank them for taking the time to visit. It was uplifting for everyone to see just how much these students appreciate getting to show off their talents and school pride. Each school can’t wait to continue working with the community and Big Shoulders Fund moving forward.
“We’re just so grateful for Big Shoulders Fund and all the people who are here today. We’re excited to see what the future holds as we remain connected to Big Shoulders Fund in everything we do and work to get these community members more ingrained into who we are,” said Knazur.
To learn more about Big Shoulders Fund, visit bigshouldersfund.org.
