A Global Partnership Initiative of the Jesuit Schools Network |
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Dear Global Companions:
One of the mysteries of Lent for me is the contrast between the state of our world which wasn't doing so well even before Covid-19 and the exuberant promises made in many of the Hebrew scriptures in the daily readings during Lent - 'I am about to create new heavens and a new earth,' for example, and 'they shall not hunger or thirst,' and 'I will open your graves and have you rise from them.' How do we transform the promises into reality? I think it's one courageous step at a time. This Hemisphere's issue is filled with those courageous steps, from Global Curriculum considerations to the Spiritual Exercises for youth in Argentina to an Anti-Racism Examen. Jesuit schools here and everywhere are taking on some responsibility for Lenten promises. So many little steps are moving Jesuit schools toward the reality of God's desires for our world. Thank you!
Bill Muller, SJ
Executive Director
*Each of the authors cited below has their email linked if you would like to reach out directly for more information.
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"To act as a universal body with a universal mission" GC35, D.2 #20
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St. Joseph's Prep Adds Courses to Further Diversify and Globalize Curriculum
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This year, many St. Joseph’s Prep departments have examined their curricula to see how classes can better reflect our diverse world and further lead to global mindedness. The History Department, in particular, is making many additions to their course offerings.
"The changes we are making for next year represent the most extensive revision of the History Department curriculum in at least 15 years,” says David Fortin, History Department Chair. “Our overall goal is to provide Prep students with more opportunities to explore a diverse curriculum that would build a foundation of historical and social knowledge so that they can see why the Grad at Grad goal of being committed to social justice is urgent and necessary.”
Below are some new courses which will join the Prep’s already challenging program of studies to better prepare our students for college and beyond as well as expose our students to a wide variety of cultural aspects. These courses join other Prep courses with a global focus already in the Program of Studies such as Native American Spirituality, African American Literature, Chilean Exchange Program, World Religions, World Literature, World History, and our foreign language classes in Mandarin Chinese, French, German, and Spanish.
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History: African-American Studies, Caribbean Studies, Modern World revised, Intro to Sociology, AP Microeconomics
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Religious Studies: Modern American Prophets
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English: The Latin American Short Story
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Fine Arts: Mexican Art
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Strategic Planning for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Join a Q&A session with Deborale Richardson-Phillips, Ph.D., VP for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, OH, and Carlos Jiménez, director of diversity outreach at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, CA, on Strategic Planning for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism with fellow educators. Participants will be invited to watch presentations from Richardson-Phillips and Jiménez ahead of time. In her presentation, Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Planning: Moving from Compliance to Consciousness, Richardson-Phillips guides participants through the creation of mission driven action plans that strategically link diversity, equity, and inclusion work to the Gospel, Jesuit school mission, and Catholic Social Teaching. Jiménez’s presentation, Breaking With Tradition: The Process of Building Culturally Relevant Catholic Schools, shares the process of creating and implementing a DEI+A action plan at Bellarmine College Preparatory. On April 15, participants will be invited to engage in Q&A with both Richardson-Phillips and Jiménez around strategic planning for DEI+A. Register here.
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Teaching Fratelli Tutti. Marianne Gallagher and Cappy Russell from Georgetown Preparatory School, acknowledging how busy everyone is right now, created with comprehensive detail a guide to teach Fratelli Tutti as a way to lead students in an active engagement with the encyclical. The guide is designed for a global audience, and it can be adapted to meet the needs of your specific classroom and students. Marianne and Cappy have also created a Fratelli Tutti discussion group on Educate Magis where you can share your ideas and reflections with them and with one another.
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Magis Americas: Messages of Hope Campaign
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It has been a year since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic; a year that has been filled with uncertainty and struggle at both the individual and collective levels. As we look ahead to another year of this new way of life, we want to invite you to focus not on the hardships, but on the victories. Not on the social distancing, but on the new forms of community. Let’s celebrate the achievements and successes we have had.
Last April, as the pandemic forced millions around the world to social distance, Magis Americas launched the Messages of Hope campaign with the aim of reminding us of the hope and joy of everyday life. The campaign connected individuals throughout our network in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean as they shared their messages of hope. Kimberly Chivalan from Fe y Alegría in Guatemala shared that for her, hope was in “the solidarity of all of us, and the love for our brothers and sisters, and our unity, today we will not be held back as we face difficulties''.
We are inviting you and your students to join us in sharing your messages of hope as a group or as individuals. If you are interested in participating and sharing your message with our community follow the steps linked below and send your videos to Mariana Palacios.
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Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Chicago
#JSNglobal on display! Send Hemispheres, or post on Twitter and Instagram your images of the global dimensions on display in your school. Tag them #JSNglobal. |
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Tag your social media posts with #JSNGlobal and SHARE your global journeys in & out of the classroom.
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Encountering Jesus - Spiritual Exercises Adapted for Youth
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The first apostolic priority of the Jesuits worldwide is to bring people closer to God by means of the Spiritual Exercises, the most precious legacy that Saint Ignatius left us. For children and teenagers this is a tough challenge which at Inmaculada School (in Santa Fe, Argentina) has been achieved through a contemplation practice, simply called “Ignatian Prayer”. Every group of students has a prayer experience twice a month, throughout their entire school life, following the framework of the Spiritual Exercises . With twenty years´ experience (twelve of Ignatian Prayer in Inmaculada School plus the previous knowledge of Father Leonardo Nardin SJ) a handbook was published. This guide contains the explanation of the method, the steps that are followed and the guiding sheets for many Gospel and Bible contemplations that are used in the Ignatian Prayer. The book is primarily aimed at primary school students and it has been translated into English. While a second handbook for high school is being prepared, the sheets can be accessed in English on our blog (scroll down to the bottom of the right hand column).
This practice has many benefits, besides helping young people to get to know Jesus better like: children getting used to sitting in silence and to remaining focused on a specific topic, gaining a deeper awareness of God (deep and vital awareness of his Person), relating the Gospel to their everyday life, employing spiritual intelligence, talking about their feelings and emotions. But the most outstanding fruit of the Ignatian Prayer is that kids who are fifteen or sixteen years old can lead their own classmates in any Ignatian Prayer meeting. This routine of prayer is highly valued in the surveys that students, teachers and parents complete every year. Furthermore, children complain when they miss the Ignatian Prayer for some special school event.
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JRS/USA invites you and your students to join us for our annual Advocacy Day on Thursday, April 15, 2021. This virtual event will provide students with the opportunity to learn about issues facing refugees and to encourage the new 117th Congress to take action on their behalf. You can learn more about our Advocacy Day event here.
JRS/USA will schedule all meetings and will help make sure your students are prepared to take action. Contact Josh Utter to learn more and have your questions answered.
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Eyes to See: An Anti-Racism Examen |
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In collaboration with colleagues across our member institutions, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) has designed Eyes to See: An Anti-Racism Examen.
The Anti-Racism Examen focuses on matters of race and racism that are specific to us and our institutions. Consisting of three parts (a video, a guided Examen, and resources for further discussion), it has been developed as a resource for boards, senior leadership teams, faculty, staff, and mixed groups of college/university colleagues. Flexible and adaptable, it can be tailored to suit the needs of other groups, including Jesuit high schools.
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Earn your Certificate in Ignatian Global Citizenship! Educate Magis recently announced the addition of a Certificate of Completion to its Ignatian Global Citizenship Course. The layout and content of this popular online course has also been updated! Read More and Earn your Certificate Today!
New Global Project! Interviews from Across the Globe on Global Citizenship Issues. Maria Oliva Garcia de Cassasola, a teacher from Spain, invites teachers from Jesuit schools across the globe to host an interview for students and to connect students to interview someone in another country on Global Citizenship issues such as ecology, racism, and migration. Read more details about this fantastic new opportunity here!
New Global Connected Classrooms for You! Brendan O'Kane from Loyola Blakefield in Baltimore, Maryland, Pedro Rivero from Jesuïtes Gràcia - KOSTKA, in Spain, and the ESL teachers from Colégio São Luis, in Brazil are looking to connect with other English-speaking classes. Read more about their proposals here:
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Download Universal Apostolic Preferences Posters in English and Spanish
Erica Tighe Campbell, the artist and calligrapher behind Be A Heart, designed the poster below highlighting the Jesuits’ Universal Apostolic Preferences, four guideposts for Jesuit ministry in place through the decade. See and learn about the poster here.
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God of all people,
We encounter you along many paths. We use many names.
And yet, we find our way to you.
Let us now show others the path to your compassionate love.
Let us walk with them in their need.
The young, the excluded, those who are hurting or forgotten.
Together, we discern your will for our shared future.
We find you in all things.
And we care for all you’ve created – our common home, our wounded neighbor.
Let us love them as you first loved us.
Amen.
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The Jesuit Schools Network promotes the educational ministry of the Society of Jesus in service to the Catholic Church by strengthening Jesuit schools for the mission of Jesus Christ. |
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