A Call to Mercy Educators to Support Integrating the Critical Concerns
into Curriculum
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Via Sr. Regina Ward, RSM: MESA will gather a group of curriculum writers for a few days this summer. They will write core curriculum incorporating the Critical Concerns. Two English teachers have committed, and we are looking for two Social Studies teachers. We will gather in North Carolina during the last week of June. If you are a Social Studies teacher interested in joining us, please contact Sister Regina Ward at
rward@sistersofmercy.org. Please forward this announcement to all Social Studies teachers! Contact Sister Regina with any questions.
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Mercy Academy's Theatre Department Heading Overseas
for Amazing Opportunity
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Via WHAS11 ABC - Performing on an international stage is kind of a big deal. It's even more significant when you're the first school of your kind to score the honor. Mercy Academy's Theatre Department is heading overseas this summer for the opportunity of a lifetime.
"The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland is the world's largest international theater festival,” Mercy Academy Theatre Director Amanda Simmons said.
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Santa Barbara Catholic School Stages
Honk! Jr.
in Guam
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Santa Barbara Catholic School in Guam recently staged
Honk! Jr., a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story
The Ugly Duckling, with book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe and music by George Stiles.
Honk! Jr. is adapted for younger audiences and carried with it a timely message of accepting differences, embracing one's uniqueness, and the power of a mother's enduring love. Children and adults alike delighted in the charming wit and memorable songs of the play, which was held on March 15 & 16 with a repeat on March 22 & 23 in the school's Petrie Gymnasium.
-Submitted by Jhoanna Co, SBCS
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St. Mary Academy - Bay View Student Speaks at March for Our Lives
Rally in Providence
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Excerpt from the speech of Virginia Nault: I remember it like it was yesterday when the news about Sandy Hook [the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut] broke. I was still in elementary school, just like the 20 children killed that day. In the aftermath, I remember security measures heightened at my school. Main doors were locked, cameras installed, and whenever I had “front desk duty” while the secretary went to lunch, I was not allowed to open the door for anyone, even if I knew them. It was evident to me, even at 12 years old, that what had happened had shocked and scared the nation. That was over five years ago. That should have been enough. Those 20 children we lost that day should have been enough to spark a change so that it never happened again.
The New York Times reports that since Sandy Hook, more than 400 people have been shot in over 200 school shootings. Clearly, Sandy Hook was not the end as it should have been.
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School Profile:
Colegio Santa Ethnea
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We continue with our series of brief school profiles with
Colegio Santa Ethnea in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As always, our goal for these profiles is to support learning from one another. If you see something you want to know more about, get in touch with that school community! All MESA education ministries are listed here:
http://mercyedu.org/educational-ministries.
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On January 11, 1931, the Sisters of Mercy made good on their desires to extend their influence in the Buenos Aires Province by signing the deed of what would become Colegio Santa Ethnea in 1932. The Sisters had come to Argentina at the behest of Father Fahy, who spiritually assisted a large number of Irish immigrants in the country. They chose that date to sign the deed because it is the celebratory day of Saint Ethnea, an Irish princess converted to Christianity by the Patron Saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, in honor of which they named the institution. The 86-year-old Mercy-sponsored school is located in the Bella Vista district in San Miguel Partido, which lies at the northwest part of Greater Buenos Aires. The mission of Colegio Santa Ethnea is to be an inclusive school, centered on the person, that helps to develop the individual and group potential, while respecting the individual pace of learning. School leaders strive to create a school that makes culture from the academic formation with a clear and transcendent social commitment, with Mercy as its hallmark.
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Santa Ethnea operates under the general direction of
Josefina Gourdy Allende
and Carolina Cóceres. It provides a Mercy education to primary and secondary students. At the primary level, school leaders work to encourage creative capacity, promote group work, foster communication and develop students' capacity for reflection and critical thinking. The primary program also offers a strong grounding in the arts, computing, sports and the environment. By the third and fourth year, primary students receive catechetical instruction.
At the secondary level, students enter college-preparatory studies, are trained in citizenship and begin getting introduced to the world of work. The school writes, "We aspire for each student to be a proactive leader, owner of their own destiny. This will allow you to think and modify your own reality and that of your community, with our distinctive stamp: from the charism of Mercy." Secondary students are offered extra workshops in sports, the arts, pastoral, mathematics and a special one, the Model United Nations. Perhaps the school is best known for its programs in the areas of nonviolent conflict resolution, leadership and protection and care of the Earth.
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Santa Ethnea enjoys strong partnerships with its alumni. Former students are part of a group that is charged with supporting the transmission of the Mercy charism to current students and members of the community. The group also regularly performs community service tasks.
The Parents Union of Santa Ethnea is comprised of families of all children who receive formation at the school. In addition to integrating home and school life, the goal of the group is to create a community of participation and growth. The Parents Union organizes events to get to know one another, to welcome new families to the school and to send off graduates.
Santa Ethnea students also work to put into practice the Mercy value of hospitality through the
Mercy Ambassadors Program. Students in their fourth and fifth year in the secondary school travel to Mercy schools in the United States, including Assumption High School in Louisville, Mount Saint Mary High School in Oklahoma City and Mercy Academy in Louisville. Students from the American schools also travel to Santa Ethnea and live with host students and their families.
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Earth Day is April 22, 2018
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The Catholic Climate Covenant is marking this observance with the program, “
Beyond a Throwaway Culture-Reduce Waste, Grow Community.” It is a one-hour educational program that includes prayers, readings, actions, and a video, designed to raise awareness on how the overuse of single-use disposable plastics contributes to what Pope Francis calls “the throwaway culture.” From contributing to land and marine pollution to increasing our use of carbon-producing fuels, our reliance on single-use plastics has a devastating impact on God’s creation.
The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas has also shared several resources for Earth Day,
here and
here. These include prayers and reflections, advocacy tools, educational resources and news.
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Good News & Great Opportunities
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Remembering Kyle
Family, friends and former classmates are mourning the loss of Kyle Plush, a former Mercy Montessori student. The 16-year-old student died after being pinned by a folding seat in his minivan. Mercy Montessori held a
community prayer gathering in his honor last week.
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Updated Job Listings
Do you have an opportunity you'd like to highlight in an upcoming issue of MESA Flash? Email
mesa@sistersofmercy.org.
We will run employment notices in MESA Flash for two weeks only. After that, you'll find older listings on our
Ministry Openings webpage. That page contains links to the employment pages of MESA schools.
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ism Workshop
Stability Markers, Strategic Planning and Financial Planning
June 11-12, 2018
Chicago, IL
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“Partners in Ministry”
Leadership Academy
July 23-24, 2018
Baltimore, MD
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Annual Administrator Meeting
October 11, 2018
Merion Station, PA
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Mercy 2018 Education Conference
Hosted by Merion Mercy Academy
October 12-13, 2018
Merion Station, PA
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You are encouraged to send in information that you'd like to share through the MESA Flash. We'd love to share your good news, photos from your schools, along with tips and practical suggestions from which others in the community can learn. Email us at
mesa@sistersofmercy.org.
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