Goal III

Preparing to serve the common good

{Goal III . Criterion 1}

Community Understandings

STRENGTHS

All constituents strongly believe that the school educates to a social awareness which impels to action. Ninety-first Street has long had this understanding of educating students and our community to take immediate and direct community action {III.6}. There is an overwhelming consensus that the school molds students to be responsible citizens with a lifelong commitment to service and advocacy {III.7}.

Faculty and staff educate our students that they must be aware of the world they have inherited, recognize injustices, and act on their responsibility to grapple with the world’s problems {III.1; III.5; III.6}. They build academic and co-curricular programming with a focus on applying skills to meaningful endeavors. Serving the common good is one of the most meaningful actions, and students are called to develop their skills in learning from different perspectives, developing a critical consciousness and cultural literacy, and practicing informed responsibility {III.2; III.5}. Indeed, alumnae note and demonstrate that they consistently draw upon these learnings and Goal III throughout their professional careers and personal lives after graduating from 91st Street {III.7}.

Through “✦ Intertwining Vines, ” published in 2021 and shared throughout the Network, 91st Street outlines how we as a Catholic-independent-Sacred Heart School root our diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and initiatives in our identity, the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart education, the themes of Catholic Social Teaching, and the National Association for Independent Schools’ (NAIS)

Principles of Good Practice for Equity and Justice {III.3}. This grounding document serves as both an introduction for new faculty and staff and an anchor for evolving work.

For examples of how 91st Street lives Goal III, please ✦ see pages 32–34.

Figure 5. Très Bien

Card. During a day of professional development, faculty and sta were asked to write Très Bien cards recognizing their colleagues and the school. These cards illustrated how committed the faculty and sta are to ✦

preparing students to serve the greater good

and the world.

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Constituent groups vary in their perspectives on the greatest opportunities for growth in this area at 91st Street. The Sacred Heart mission calls upon 91st Street to continue educating to cultural literacy and working to dismantle social structures that perpetuate injustice {III.2; III.3}. When surveyed, constituents shared a desire to learn more about what actions would be effective for justice {III.5; III.6}. Constituents want more opportunities to learn about the root causes of injustice and to build the skills required to engage in direct and impactful action.

As students develop a greater cultural literacy, they wish for more expansive discussions that encourage different perspectives and further exploration of dialogue, advocacy, and action beyond the 91st Street campus and our traditional community partners. There is also a desire to learn more deeply about the complexities of oppression, injustice, and current events and take greater global action toward justice. {III.2; III.3; III.6}

In order to have these discussions, students want to interact with a more diverse student body, one that is more accepting of differences. Faculty and staff understand that the New York City environment

can promote a diversity of thought and know that we need to further leverage the City’s unique experiential opportunities to support the 91st Street’s ability to form more well-rounded students {III.2}.

All constituents note that the school needs to articulate goals about the practices we take to be an intentional steward of the environment {III.4}. The school’s mission calls us each to take responsibility and accept accountability in our daily thoughtfulness and actions in caring for God’s creation.

Intertwining Vines

“✦ Intertwining Vines, ” published in February 2021 and shared throughout the Network, outlines how the school’s identities as a Catholic, independent, Sacred Heart school intertwine to root our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, grounding the rationale in the Goals and Criteria, Catholic Social Teaching, and the National Association for Independent Schools’ (NAIS) Principles of Good Practice for Equity and Justice. This document serves as an introduction for new faculty and staff and a resource for evolving work.

Upper School Teach-in

For the annual Upper School Teach-In, students and faculty collaborate to design a day of learning and discussion about social justice issues and ways that we act as agents of change in our community and in our world. The day usually includes a keynote address as well as ✦ workshops

designed to promote more in-depth

dialogue among students. Past Teach-In themes have included the UN Millenium Development Goals, food scarcity and deserts, interfaith discussions, the Big Eight Social Identifiers, Bryan Stevenson's work with the Equal Justice Initiative, and Environmental Racism.

Social Justice Standards

Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards have been integrated into the curriculum by division. In the Lower School, lessons on identity, diversity, justice, and action are woven throughout each grade. For example, Grade 4 students learn about how to ✦ respectfully

articulate similarities and

differences in identities (DI.3-5.7) . Grade 2 students ✦ explore family and group identities (ID.K-2.1).

The Grade 7 religion curriculum encourages students to analyze which social structures perpetuate injustice and which uphold human dignity. ✦ Lessons incorporate scripture and tradition including Laudato Si, Querida Amazonia, and Caritas in Veritate to investigate topics such as workers’ rights, global education, inclusion in the Church, environmental sustainability, and the RSCJ history of enslavement. For their ✦ final project: each student researches a local nonprofit and connects its work to Catholic Social Teaching and the Sacred Heart Goals and Criteria. One project last year focused on ✦ Terence Cardinal Cooke.

Philippine and the Society’s Legacy of Enslavement

The Philippine Working Group at 91st Street worked closely with the Network in investigating the initial curriculum of claiming our past and have integrated the work into community life, prayer services, and course curriculum. A group will attend the November conference on Living our Sacred Heart Mission. Upper School ✦ prayer services have recently centered around remembering and naming the enslaved people at Grand Coteau and their descendants, and honoring the memory of Liza Nebbitt. In Grade 9 theology, the ✦ final unit weaves together the history and current charisms of the RSCJ and the Network of Sacred Heart Schools, the values of the Gospel of Matthew, and core principles of Catholic ethics and social justice. Students focus on ethical discernment, deciding in community how they hope to live out themes of justice and social ethics as Students of the Sacred Heart.

Faculty and Staff Awareness Salons

Hosted several times a year by the Awareness Council, Awareness Salons invite all faculty and staff for discussions that center current events and issues through the lens of Goal III. In 2020, the Awareness Salon welcomed Dr. Mary Zaborskis ’08 to present on Native American boarding schools and the role of the Catholic church and Dani Bostick to host a discussion of racism in the context of the Classics, the Western Canon, and modern academic curricula.

World Language

As part of a Middle School initiative to improve reading comprehension skills across all disciplines, World Language teachers of Spanish, French, and Latin researched, sourced, and implemented authentic level- and age-appropriate readers, periodicals, and textbooks. In choosing these new materials, they made selections to ensure the new materials support our commitment to being anti-racist. As a result, these new readers and textbooks bring to the fore the identities, experiences, and perspectives of Indigenous populations and give students the opportunity to become aware of the role languages played in the spread and maintenance of systemic racism through colonialism.

Athletics & Wellness Center

91st Street places an emphasis on athletics, health, and wellness all throughout the school community, provides student-athletes with a premier facility to practice and compete, and serves neighborhood youth and city organizations through intentional programming.

H.E.A.R.T. (Health Education And

Responsible Tools) provides children and their families the tools to develop life-long habits and routines to foster wellness, health, self-esteem, and academic achievement. By providing fitness opportunities, access to affordable and nutritious food, and techniques for healthy food preparation, H.E.A.R.T. empowers families to extend these outcomes into their daily lives. Upper Schoolers have the opportunity to intern at H.E.A.R.T., and many college-age alumnae return to teach classes at H.E.A.R.T. ’s summer program.. During the school year, the H.E.A.R.T. swim outreach program offers swim classes every Saturday morning. Since 2014, the program has provided over 400 lessons to over 200 children, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of over 100 volunteer swim instructors.

Through the Upper School Human

Trafficking Awareness Club

(Lifeway Network Club), students explore human rights in business and the world by learning from and supporting anti-trafficking charities in New York City. H2O:GO (An Aquatics Specialty Project) is a Network Summer Service Project we developed based on our successful Upper School P.E. program in which students receive lifeguarding certification and swim instructor training and then serve others through swim programs such as H.E.A.R.T. swim. H2O:GO adapted this model to a week-long service project that includes completing training and certification in lifeguarding and instruction, discussing strategies with experts on drowning prevention and urban recreation swim programs, supervised experiences to lifeguard and teach swimming to underserved communities, and designing plans to implement aquatics service programs in their home communities.

The Upper School Underdog Club is a space to learn about animal rights issues and advocate on behalf of unjust treatment towards wild and domestic animals. The club participates in service opportunities and engages the Upper School community through presentations and services.

Student Led Clubs

The Middle School ✦ Diversity

Equity and Inclusion Club (DICE)

believes that centering the identities is important to becoming a more global citizen. Our goals are to increase awareness and open-mindedness to different points of view, combat stereotypes, and promote inclusion.

Model Congress Club is an opportunity for Middle School students to engage with the American government through a simulation of the United States Congress. Students research topics of their choice, ✦ craft bills, and debate each bill’s strengths and weaknesses before ultimately putting each bill to a vote. This club allows students to develop a better understanding of government function and become more informed about current political issues.

The Middle School ✦ Women of the World (WOW) club focuses on spreading awareness about women’s rights and the treatment of women around the world. WOW aims to educate the Middle School community about the progress women are making to obtain the same rights and privileges men enjoy. WOW is about ✦

empowering young girls to be

strong, independent individuals. Similarly, the Upper School Feminism Club discusses issues facing women today and important news in feminism.

Upper School Amnesty International is our school’s chapter of the organization of the same name which campaigns for global human rights. Club members read news articles on current human rights issues, discuss them, and brainstorm ideas on how to garner awareness on these matters in the school community.

Service Learning

The entire 91st Street family is engaged in service learning and working to build a better world as a part of our community life.

Lower School students learn about soup kitchens, food pantries, and local hunger issues, then create jars of homemade dried soup to provide in the Thanksgiving donation boxes to families in need. Students also decorate brown bags for the Midnight Run for the homeless. In addition, Grade 2 students, along with the Grade 5 students in Middle School, participate in the Heifer Walk for Heifer International raising awareness and money to purchase livestock for needy families globally. Students learn about the importance of helping others “help themselves” by giving them the means by which to do so. The Middle School service program is committed to increasing students’ awareness of issues of justice that involve the larger community of our city and the world. The service team, which consists of a faculty advisor, an elected Grade 8 service captain, and elected class service representatives, plan monthly activities for the Middle School community. Recent events include creating and decorating Thanksgiving baskets for families in need; hosting clothing, book, and food drives; writing cards for the The Scarlett Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; knitting for peace; delivering sandwiches to New York Common Pantry; and fundraising for our sister schools in Uganda, India, and Poland. On the day of their Confirmation, Grade 8 students participate in a ✦ morning of service learning. In Grade 9, students begin a unique two-year social justice sequence that prepares them to look within by exploring their personal values and ways to become active citizens in our local community through YPI (Youth and Philanthropy Initiative). In addition to looking inward, they look outward by exploring social issues that impact New York City. The skills learned through the YPI curriculum prepare students to move into the Grade 10 social action program, in which they commit to volunteering at one agency throughout the year to address the needs of New York City residents. Through personal and group reflection, students enter their final two years of high school with a firm foundation to lead social action initiatives.

Re-Member at Pine Ridge

In June 2022, 18 community members attended our first school-sponsored immersion to ✦ Re-Member at Pine Ridge Reservation. Adult and student participants witnessed the extreme poverty afflicting the Lakota people of Pine Ridge as well as the resilience and strength of character that comes from their culture and traditions. To improve living conditions for families on the reservation and help meet the basic need for adequate shelter, students built bunk beds, outhouses, trailer skirting, entry steps, wheelchair ramps, and decks. They also visited historical sites such as Wounded Knee and engaged in heartfelt conversation with people of the Lakota Nation. Since this first visit, 91st Street has committed to returning to Re-Member twice in 2023. “My experience at the Pine Ridge Reservation was eye opening…. While individual activism and

service are beyond important, the main work to be done is at a

national level. The true nature of poverty and racism are that they ’ re systematic and oen go hand in hand together because of this shared fact…. People listening to one another and making an effort to be less reactionary is the first step towards understanding and, eventually, standing alongside differing communities. ” —Lillian, Grade 12

Sacré Cœur Outreach Club (Service

Club) in the Upper School organizes and promotes school-wide outreach events both in and out of school. The team works together to choose important causes and design events to increase awareness and create change.