Erie Benedictine Sister Marian Wehler was one of three "sharks" in a Shark-Tank style Catholic Schools Week activity at Venango Catholic High School in Oil City, PA. Sister Marian ministers with Catholic Rural Ministry and lives in Oil City. When students at the high school entered their ideas about helping their community and the environment into a competition, she was asked to be a "shark." 

"Each group of students showed imagination and real care for the earth community: water, air, vegetation, bees, birds, green energy, farmers and children," said Sister Marian. "For me, it was fresh hope in our young people who want to make a difference for beautiful common home."

The other sharks were Father John Miller, pastor of St. Joseph Church, Oil City, and Senator Scott Hutchinson. They are pictured here with the winning team who designed a Rotation Filtration System, and Jim Gallagher, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Erie. Sister Marian is on the far right. The purpose of the Rotation Filtration System is to reduce the amount of pollution and foreign materials in the waterways. All materials collected by the RFS will be recycled to reduce global impact, and all systems will be powered by renewable energy.

"I was impressed that our students, with only 45 minutes, a random sampling of supplies, and a surprise grouping of students, could quickly create a plan of action, assign tasks, create a product and a presentation to pitch their product," said Laura Blake, president of Venango Region Catholic School. "Without hesitation, all students dove into the challenge and had fun working with their peers to make the world a better place. There is something special to be said when every student actively participated, felt comfortable sharing their ideas and earnestly enjoyed working with their teammates."