The Memory Project

For the last nine years, students in Honors Art III have participated in the Memory Project - a nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and their students to create portraits for youth around the world who have faced substantial challenges. This year the portraits were delivered to children in Puerto Rico, a gesture of support after enduring Hurricane Maria. The intention for the portraits is to make the children feel valued and important, to know that people care about their well being and acknowledge their resilience. For the Mercy students, it is an opportunity to creatively gain global awareness and practice kindness.

The Memory Project sends photographs and Mercy students paint portraits from the photos. They learned about Puerto Rico’s history and culture, and about the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Maria. Each Mercy student wrote a short note to their portrait recipient (in Spanish) to convey their support and encouragement.

Windows & Mirrors BOOK CLUB

In the spring, Sarah Murphy, Library Resources Coordinator, organized the Windows and Mirrors Book Club! A summer reading program for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors, it was established to encourage reading for fun. Faculty and staff selected books that either mean something special to them, or that they had been looking forward to reading, and led a book club meeting in August. The books reflected the Club’s theme of being a window into another person's life, or a mirror of your own life, and were varied in topic, genre, style and even presentation - including a couple of graphic novels too! The discussions were spirited and covered a lot of ground. One of our book groups even had the author come to visit. The girls were interested to read about other people's lives, and enjoyed reading for the fun of it!