The school chapel at Cristo Rey Columbus High School received a thoughtful upgrade this winter thanks to the initiative of an ambitious student.
Sophomore Philip Corrigan had been pursuing the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest earned honor in Scouts BSA. The signature element of achieving this rank is the completion of a detailed service project that the scout must plan, develop and lead. It must benefit the community, a religious institution or a school. For Corrigan, selecting his service project was an easy decision and one that united his faith, school life and scout life — constructing kneelers for the school chapel at Cristo Rey Columbus.
Philip’s service project began in the spring of 2025, when he came up with the idea to build free-standing kneelers, which the school chapel did not have.
“My Catholic faith is important to me and kneeling when the Eucharist is present is essential to the Catholic Mass,” Corrigan said. “Without kneelers, it’s hard for some people to do so.”
After determining his project’s directive, he sought approval for his idea from Assistant Principal of Student Services Katie Laufersweiler-Hanf, who oversees the school’s campus ministry department and service initiatives.
“It was exciting to see Philip recognize a need for our school and want to do something to improve it,” said Laufersweiler-Hanf, who held periodic check-ins with Philip as his project progressed. “To have a student select an Eagle Scout project that would benefit our school, specifically one that will assist our students and staff in celebrating Mass, was inspiring.”
With the go-ahead from Laufersweiler-Hanf, he compiled a detailed proposal following the Scouts BSA guidelines, including an estimated budget, blueprints, list of materials, volunteer needs and more. He presented his proposal to his Scouts BSA council and received approval to begin his project. With summer break quickly approaching, he made the decision to wait until school resumed for the 2025-26 academic year to work toward its completion.
Once the school year began, he focused his efforts on fundraising for the materials needed to construct the kneelers: wood, hardware, foam padding and fabric. In September, with a fundraising goal of $500, he was given approval for a school-wide “dress down” day, a special occasion where students who made a $1 donation were not required to wear their uniform.
“I really wanted the entire school to know about the project and to feel like they had a little bit of ownership by contributing,” he said.
To maximize his success, he created a promotional video for the school’s daily announcements and added a competitive element to encourage participation: The grade level with the most participation would get to choose a future dress down day outfit for the school’s U.S. History teacher, Oliver Corrigan, who also happens to be Philip’s father. Philip successfully met his fundraising goal and moved on to the construction phase of the project.
After building a prototype and getting approval from Mrs. Laufersweiler-Hanf, he set out to complete the rest of the kneelers, 20 in total. He and his father cut and stained the wood, then scheduled a day with volunteers from his Scout Troop 310 to assemble the finished pieces.
“We had about 15 people assisting and I divided them into an assembly line with specific tasks to complete on each kneeler,” he explained. “At the end of the day, I checked each piece for quality control, to make sure they all met the standard I was looking for.”
In late November, the kneelers were brought to school and placed in the front rows of the chapel seats. They were completed just in time to put them to use for the school’s Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8. With the successful completion of his service project along with other requirements, Philip earned the rank of Eagle Scout on Dec. 22 with Troop 310, Polaris District, Simon Kenton Council.
When reflecting on the project, he has high hopes for the impact it will have on the school.
“I hope the kneelers will help others feel more comfortable kneeling in the presence of the Eucharist, which in turn, further benefits our school’s religious endeavors,” he said.
Laufersweiler-Hanf also expressed enthusiasm for the widespread benefits of the project.
“Philip’s project is a great example of the type of drive and initiative we see in Cristo Rey students every day,” she said. “I hope other students are encouraged by the visibility of this project and feel empowered to make their own improvements in our community.”