Why do we, Mid-Pacific students, have to go to chapel every other week? If you were a new student at Mid-Pacific and asked someone, “What’s chapel?” Most students would respond, “It’s more like a class meeting for students where we sit down for 30 minutes in a cold room.”
Mid-Pacific Chaplain Jenny Sung has been a huge part of the school’s community since she joined in February 2024. And with the remaining time that she has here at our school, she reflects on the purpose of chapel, and how she has approached this important role in our community.
“I wanted it to be a place where students could feel safe to engage in and participate. A place where students could also have a space in the middle of their day just to pause and center and rest, not learning, not like classes and assignments, but just a place where they could rest and center and pause, and hopefully experience the presence of God,” Sung said.
Mid-Pacific is a religiously diverse school, and students have many different perspectives on faith. However, many students don’t share the same passion for chapel as Sung, and they see it as a waste of time.
“In my previous school, we had Town Hall meetings, like if students wanted to make recess ten minutes longer. When I hear that “it’s time for chapel”, I feel sad because it does nothing and the seats are pretty hard to get into. It’s always a weird situation if you’re late and you want to sit with your friends, you’d have to pass all those people just to get to a seat. Also, it’s not really super eventful,” freshman Andre Lukey said.
Additionally, there are times where chapel isn’t all about religion, and the school brings in a guest speaker talking about a general cause. When the time 808 NO VAPE or the FBI came in to talk with the school about the dangers of the internet.
Mid-Pacific is a school about diversity and we welcome the different voices and perspectives of anyone. The school brings in guest speakers who are knowledgeable about other unique religions and what they entail.
“I think that if you’re trying to get other cultures you would like trying to include other cultures in what she’s trying to teach, I think that you should totally bring guest speakers. I think whenever I see her try to explore a Jewish holiday, she kind of gets parts of it wrong. But apparently she brought in a rabbi, Rabbi Shari Weisman, and I feel like that would be better than the chaplain trying to explain it herself. And she brought in the Muslim guest speaker and I think that he could have explained it better than anybody else could have,” freshman Sam Golub said.
While chapel may not be to everyone’s taste at the high school level, Sung’s hard work has not gone unnoticed elsewhere. One goal that Sung had was to “increase student participation.”.
Most of the student participation comes from the middle school students. Sung recalled one student who sang “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson and by Sung’s words “she was very passionate about the message she ties into the song, so we really focus on the lyrics so the people are moved to realize the change starts within myself.”
A more elusive goal has been getting high school students’ participation
“I think we need to find a way to get more student input. From students who are willing to give that input. So if we can find a way to get more students’ opinions and input on chapel, I think we can work to make Chapel more enjoyable for everyone,” junior Alexis DeRyke said.
Despite the challenges of teenage apathy, Sung has been a great temporary pillar of the school community. With her leaving at the end of this school year, all students should look back on those sessions with her and reflect on what we have learned.
Sung will definitely be missed by faculty and students alike because she has touched the hearts of many. The amount of times she’s gone out of her way to make everyone feel welcomed and sense of belonging cannot be counted.
“I will miss how open minded she is, she not only showed us the pure joy with a bunch of different religions and talked about her experience and worked with a bunch of different communities. She was always willing to take the extra steps needed to make everyone feel comfortable,” DeRyke said.
As she approaches the end of her time at Mid-Pacific, Sung reflects on what has made her time at Mid-Pacific memorable.
“It’s hard to capture it in a few sentences, but I will miss the people- all of you. Mid-Pacific is an amazing and diverse community and I am blown away by the heart, passion and talent of students, faculty and staff here. I have cherished the relationships built in my time, and thankful for all the conversations, in the tough times of struggle and confusion, and in the joyful times of celebration and victories. I loved all the questions that came my way and being that additional source of support and encouragement. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, “ Sung said.
The Na Pueo team wishes Chaplain Jenny Sung a river of success on her divine journey!
