This year DSHA joined hundreds of other Catholic high schools across the country as they adopted a Salvatorian House System rooted in the core values of the Sisters of the Divine Savior. Each DSHA student was placed in one of the 5 houses named for a different quality of a DSHA graduate: Dignitas (Self Advocate), Caritas (Woman of Faith), Illustrate (Critical Thinker), Sono (Communicator), and Lumen (Leader). Additionally, each house has a different patron saint as a way to incorporate faith into our new system. To celebrate the values and saints of each Salvatorian House, they each have their own prayers written by their Campus Ministry representatives and have a house-wide celebration on the feast day of their saint.
The house system was created with the goal of bringing students in different grades closer together through activities like Dash-a-thon, games during assemblies, and other school-wide challenges. Throughout the school year all 5 houses compete against each other for the House Cup various activities like attending sporting events, the musical, Thankful Thursday masses, Dasher Dialogues, and donating to a variety of school wide fundraising opportunities. At each of these events, every house is awarded 1-5 points depending on who was the most successful. Then, at the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup.
So far, the biggest success from the house system has been seen in the drastic improvement in fundraising through Dash-A-Thon this past September. In the past, goals for fundraising were given to each class, however, this year they were given to each of the five Salvatorian Houses instead. It ultimately ended up being the reason why DSHA raised the most money ever for Dash-A-Thon with over $125,000, far exceeding the school-wide goal of $90,000!
To stay updated on how many points each house has, standings are read periodically during house competitions and announced at the end of each quarter.
If you have any questions about your house or upcoming events contact Mrs. Fredricks or your house dean!!
