May 2012
Dear Parents,
Schools of the Sacred Heart commit themselves to educate to a social awareness which impels to action.
For more than 30 years the Network of Sacred Heart Schools has offered summer service projects. These projects offer our girls opportunities to work with Sacred Heart students throughout the country. I think you might like to know about some of the projects this summer:
The Saint Madeleine Sophie Center in El Cajon,CA, serves developmentally disabled adults in a day program. Girls will assist adults who are learning skills to allow them to join the work force. Students will work the garden, teach computer skills, and go into the community to support clients and assist at the Sophie Gallery where the artwork and crafts produced by the clients are sold.
At Princeton Academy in New Jersey, a Clown Academy will be offered. Students learn circus skills such as juggling, uni-cycle riding, stilt walking, tight-rope walking, globe walking and swinging on a trapeze. After intensive training the students will share their skills by travelling to community centers serving the poorest families inTrenton.
In New Orleans an environmental program is being offered. Focusing on preparing the girls to be stewards of the earth resources, they will study the ecological challenges in southeast Louisiana and the impact of wetland loss in this region. They will help in the restoration of the rich coastal wetland of the area impacted by the oil spill.
The Juvenile Justice Program is based at our Sacred Heart School in Chicago. In this urban setting, students will consider the context in which many of our nation’s teens live. Students will visit the Cook County Jail, Northwestern University’s Child and Family Justice Center and observe a Peer Jury Program in the Chicago Public Schools. Meeting with judges, prosecutors, public defenders, social workers etc., as well as teenagers who have been in the justice system, the students will learn about the systems that exist.
Project Harvest meets at our farm in Poughkeepsie focusing on the issues of food security and responsible food choices. During their time at Sprout Creek Farm campers will do farm chores, work at soup kitchens and grow to understand the hard work required for sustainable agriculture. A second program at Sprout Creek Farm is Institute for Social and Environmental Awareness. A daily seminar provides the framework for deeper understanding of the complexities and interconnectedness of land based resources in the United States and in the world. Participants will be actively involved in animal husbandry, gardening, cooking and spiritual reflection.
Bringing the girls together deepens our sense of the Network and our common mission, to make known the love of the Heart of Jesus. My thanks to our girls who so generously offer to be of service.
Sincerely,