Spectrum Classes Experience Faith in Action at Lake City Catholic Worker Farm

October 16, 2025

On Friday, October 10, both Spectrum sections set out on their first-ever field trip to the Lake City Catholic Worker Farm - an experience that combined faith, service, reflection, and hands-on learning. Accompanied by teachers Joe Kruse, Christina Devos, Jesse Cusick, and Alex Nuy, around 75 students spent the day immersed in the daily life of a Catholic Worker community.

Located in the scenic countryside, the Lake City Catholic Worker Farm is much more than a farm - it’s a living example of Catholic Social Teaching in action. The community lives simply and intentionally, offering hospitality to those in need, working toward food justice, and advocating for peace and sustainability. Students had the rare opportunity to step into this way of life for a day.

The field trip grew directly out of classwork on Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement. Founded by Day in 1933, the Catholic Worker is a grassroots social movement of lay Catholics committed to living out the Works of Mercy and Catholic Social Teaching in real, tangible ways. Catholic Worker communities typically offer free meals, housing, and other services to neighbors in need, while also advocating for justice, peace, and nonviolence.

The Lake City Catholic Worker is one such community - distinct in that it is also a small working farm. Students learned that the residents of the farm provide transitional housing, practice regenerative agriculture, and even make and sell organic kombucha. They live in intentional community, offering hospitality not as charity but as kinship, welcoming guests as family rather than clients.

Throughout the day, students rotated through a variety of stations. They fed llamas, goats, and chickens, planted garlic, took part in a mindfulness hike through a prairie, and sampled the farm’s kombucha. They also heard personal stories from Catholic Workers about why they have chosen this lifestyle and how it reflects their faith.

“This field trip connected directly to what we’ve been learning in class - Dorothy Day, the Catholic Worker Movement, and the Works of Mercy,” said Religion teacher Joe Kruse. “The teaching team thought it would be powerful for students to witness and interact with contemporary Catholic Workers, and it truly was. We had an incredible time.”

The visit clearly made an impact. In a post-trip survey, 98% of students recommended that Spectrum continue the trip in future years. Here are a few student reflections:

• “I really enjoyed the mindfulness walk through nature—it helped me slow down and manage my thoughts. The kombucha station was my favorite because we got to hear stories about how they live and help others.”

• “It was cool to see how their way of life connects to God without them pushing it on anyone. They were just really sincere in how they live.”

• “I liked how we were actually doing something with what we are learning. It made it all feel more real.”

• “Spending the day outside, feeding animals, planting things, and working in groups was a refreshing break. It helped build community with classmates too.”

The Lake City Catholic Worker community is named after Austrian Catholic martyrs Franz and Franziska Jagerstätter, who resisted Nazism at the cost of Franz’s life. Their namesake community lives out the Gospel through hospitality, sustainability, and joyful resistance to injustice.

Experiences like this one remind students that faith, service, and justice aren’t just ideas to study - they’re ways of life. Plans are already underway to make this field trip a yearly tradition.