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Reach members gather together to listen to a Bible reading, as they do during each of their meetings. Photo by Mariam Hanna.
ROCHESTER REACH
Student-led prayer group gains momentum in its second year
MARIAM HANNA
LIFESTYLES & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Every other Tuesday, junior Zoe Sawdon gets up early
to come to Rochester High School to lead and partake in
Rochester Reach, a new unofficial club devoted to Christian
prayer. She is a head of the club, along with freshman Lauren
Kolodsick and sophomore Ana Hernandez.
RHS is a diverse school full of students and staff of
different cultures and religions, and this is exhibited through
its multiple religious clubs. Reach is an example of this, as
well as the Muslim Student Association that ran last school
year. RHS also offers theology, a class lead by Mrs. Sarah
Meish, which helps students learn about world religions.
Reach meets every other Tuesday at 7 a.m. in Ms.
Scisolwicz’s room.
“It’s really, really chill,” Hernandez said. “We start off by
eating donuts and talking about our day. Then, we have a
devotional that starts off our whole week. After that, we pray
and go to our classes.”
Unlike most clubs and groups at RHS, Reach is an
unofficial cub, which means there is no fee.
“Our group isn’t an official club,” Sawdon said. “That’s
just because we thought that would be better since when you
join a club, you have to pay a fee and that sometimes turns
people away.”
The main goal of Reach is to connect students who have
the same faith and priorities. This was the reason Sawdon
began the prayer group, and it has continued to be one of its
main points.
“Our goal was there’d be a place where other Christians
would come and meet together and establish a community,”
Sawdon said. “So, when your walking down the hall, and
you see someone else from the club, you’re like, ‘Hey, look!
There’s another person who I know who also loves God just
like I do.’”
Reach has two teacher sponsors: Mr. Meish and Ms.
Scislowicz. These teachers let Reach members in the school
early and allow them to hold their meetings in their rooms.
They also occasionally meet with the group leaders to discuss
plans and ideas.
“I’ve been kind of letting the students take over so far, so
I’ve just kind of been in the room, but I guess the first goal
is to make it more widely known,” Ms. Scislowicz said. “I
don’t know if a lot of students know about it. So, Mr. Meisch
and I are taking that on.”
As a teacher, Ms. Scislowicz sees RHS students’ stress and
all the outside pressures coming at them, and she believes
Reach is a good way to calm down and destress.
“[Reach] is something I’m passionate about,” said Ms.
Scislowicz. “ I have a faith, too, and I love to see students
come together, especially before school when they’re
stressed, and just kind of relieve that and pray together.”
Ms. Scislowicz also knows there are many students
who may want to join a prayer group like Reach but are too
nervous to take part.
“If you’re more quiet and reserved and you don’t like
praying in front of people, I’d say don’t let that hinder you,”
Ms. Scislowicz said. “Come anyway because other people
will lead and its more really like you’re soaking it in. Even if
you’re not a leader or you’re not super outgoing, it’s still the
place for you.”
Similarly, Reach has allowed Sawdon and other club
members to become more outgoing and try new things.
Sawdon said not only has her faith grown because of this
prayer group, but so have her leadership skills. Being one of
the group leaders, she has had to step out of her comfort
zone.
“I have learned that you can’t be timid about it,” Sawdon
THE TALON || OCTOBER 2018
said. “You can’t [keep doubting youself]. You have to be
really ambitious, even if the task that you want to accomplish
seems big and daunting, you have to just kind of jump right
it and start doing it or else it’s never going to happen.”
Like Sawdon, Hernandez’s faith is important to her, and
she wanted to bring her love for God to school.
“In seventh grade, I kind of went through a dark time,”
Hernandez said. “I didn’t really believe in God, but after I
went to this camp, He really helped me. I knew who He was,
and I found Him. Knowing somebody who is there for me
no matter what really helped me.”
Hernandez attends Woodside Bible Church, where she
is an ambassador. She learned about Reach through this
program.
“My church has school ambassadors who represent each
school, and they asked me if I wanted to [lead Reach] with a
couple of my friends who also go to Rochester,” Hernandez
said. “I wanted to also spread the word of God at school
because school is a dark place, and even though people
might not believe in God, just knowing that he’s there and
spreading that light is why I like to be in this group.”
Aside from goals for Reach, Hernandez has goals she
wants to achieve within her faith in the future.
“I’d like to work with special needs in the ministry,”
Hernandez said. “So, I want to spend more time with them,
and I also want other people to grow like I did and know that
God is always there no matter what.”
Sawdon and Hernandez say they love partaking in and
leading Rochester Reach, and they urge anyone who shares
their love for the Christian faith and for God to join.
“If you want more information, you can come to me,”
Hernandez said. “It’s super fun, and you can always rely on
someone when you’re alone.”