Waking up and arriving at school before the sunrise, over 40 students meet every Tuesday and Thursday morning in English teacher Shannon Cremeens’ room 3208 to grow in their Christian faiths.

“It’s been very uplifting to see positive young people starting their day to go find people to lift up,” Cremeens said.

Seniors Betsy Wait, Daniel Loaney and junior Will Schuchardt were inspired to start a Christian youth group at school called Mountains and Valleys (MAV). Their goal was to create a community of students who could love and support each other in the midst of high school obligations and common pressures.

“I’ve seen a lot pain and hurt in the students here and it just hurts my heart. I really just felt in the first two years I didn’t have a community to go to. I was excited to start that and give that to other people,” Schuchardt said.

The group started because Loaney and Schuchardt went on a Christian retreat together over the summer and were inspired to make positive impact at school.

“Me and Daniel were on a retreat, and the same day we both felt a calling to start something at school where we could pray and worship. It was super cool how it ended up happening,” Schuchardt said.

After working at a Christian camp for eight weeks over the summer, Wait wanted to influence students in her community as well.

“Coming home from camp, I wanted to share my experience from this summer and encourage others to be light in school,” Wait said.

During meetings, students read Bible passages, participate in small group discussions and worship. Although the organization was founded and run by students, faculty have made appearances in Cremeens’ classroom as well.

“We had a custodian pray over us, and share with us some really good wisdom. We also had a teacher come in and sit and watch. It’s cool to see how this community reaches past the students,” Schuchardt said.

Wait, Loaney and Schuhardt encourage anyone to participate in their weekly meetings regardless of religious background.

“Just come. The best thing you can do is just be there and be excited about it. Anybody can come, and you don’t have to be a Christian. MAV is about fostering a community for people who want to build each other up,” Wait said.