Service

Blanket Drive

In her very first year as an Ursuline girl, Junior Morgan Bennett truly embraced the Academy’s motto of Serviam. Bringing a blanket drive to Ursuline - her spirit of serving others was contagious! “Service has always been instilled in me,” she said. “Seeing people having less than I do, I just want to help them. That’s what we need to do – help each other and lift everyone up.”

Due to social distancing mandates, this year’s high school service hour requirement proved to be a little more difficult for students. Keeping this in mind, Morgan proposed a blanket drive that would allow students to easily and safely give back to others. Students gathered on campus during the Mardi Gras break and made over 300 blankets. Morgan’s service was not only recognized at school, but citywide as she received a proclamation from the New Orleans City Council.

Despite a difficult, rather challenging year, service remained in the hearts of the members of our Ursuline community - living out St. Angela’s vision of servinig others more than we need to be served.

URSULINE ACADEMY | 19 | THE URSU.LINES | 2020-2021

By Christy Jackson Zurcher ’00

When we think of serving those in need, we often think of donating clothes, preparing meals, and building shelter. Do we ever stop to think that in simply sharing our gifts and talents with others, we are also serving their needs? That’s exactly what elementary music teachers Lauren Benoit Ataei and Lulu Reeks set out to instill in the Academy’s young musicians.

Beginning in first grade, all Ursuline girls are given weekly instruction in music. By third grade, they are playing violin, recorder, and xylophone while also learning to read and write music. In fifth grade, they are given the option to choose between strings and general music, continuing to study the instruments they excel in playing. Prior to first grade, early childhood students are also introduced to music - exploring music through play and learning pictorial notation as a precursor to note reading. These skills are carried throughout high school as students are able to continue to perform in orchestra, choir, and also take private piano lessons. As musical skills are fostered, so are confidence, discipline, and teamwork. In addition to learning how to play an instrument, these Ursuline girls are learning to use the instrument to touch the lives of those who are listening. “Teaching music is often about physical skills and technical accuracy, with an emphasis on performance. While I do teach those things to help our girls shine, I also teach joy, connection, and humanity,” said elementary music teacher Lauren Ataei.

Elementary Music teaches Ursuline girls to share in the healing and spiritual power of music. Through singing in the choir at local events, playing handbells in Mass, or playing violin at a nursing home, our girls learn that performing for others is an act of service. In fact, they have been taught that the music they play during Academy Masses isn’t a performance, but rather a gift and an invitation to the Ursuline community to pray and connect more deeply. Orchestra teacher Lulu Reeks said, “We teach

the girls to pray while we play - to really think about the lyrics when we are performing.”

Elementary students have engaged in many cross-curricular projects with music, technology, and art to expand upon core academic topics like citizenship, sustainability, and social justice. After learning about citizenship, first grade students learned the National Anthem to perform on their election day. Third grade students used percussion instruments to describe a character or significant event in their class novel - "Charlotte’s Web." Orchestra students have arranged “thank you concerts” for our dining and janitorial staff, hosted concerts for younger peers, and even recorded performances to virtually share with each other and families during quarantine. The seventh grade strings players turned words of gratitude into music by using a French method of musical cryptography. Their beautiful music, performed at an Academy Mass, represented some of the things for which they are thankful.

As evident in its musical offerings, Ursuline Academy of New Orleans is molding leaders of confidence and compassion to go out and make an impact on our global society. From early childhood through high school, these musicians are finding the confidence to challenge themselves beyond just academics. Their inspiration - the music teachers who personally go out and serve the community through their own God-given talents. Not only are these teachers educating, they are mentoring and bringing to light St. Angela Merici’s words: “Act in such a way that they may always follow your example.” From students to teachers, the Academy’s motto of Serviam is truly lived out in each and every note played.

“Act in such a way that they may always follow your example.”

- Saint Angela Merici

From Ursuline to Tulane & Now Yale

Ursuline Alumna Strives to be the Change

By Ingeborg Hyde ’17

When I was in middle school, I came across a quote by Gandhi: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” My twelve-year-old self thought, “I want to live in a world where all people are happy and compassionate.” I wrote Gandhi’s quote on my bathroom mirror, and each morning, as I brushed my teeth and read it, I promised myself that I would perform a daily act of random kindness to help another person. Unbeknownst to me, this internal desire for a better world led me to start my first public health project.

One winter evening, my mom and I were driving under a bridge. I noticed that many homeless people were not wearing any socks. I was so heartbroken by the scene that as soon as we got home, I secretly took a few pairs of socks from my dad’s closet and asked my mom to drive me back to the bridge where I distributed the socks. That day, Happy Feet was born.

Happy Feet is a used sock drive that I launched at Ursuline when I was in eighth grade and continued through college. I also recruited 15 students from various local schools who launched the sock drive at their institutions. Together, we have donated over 15,000 pairs of socks to the homeless population of New Orleans. Who would have thought that collecting and distributing used socks would have been the beginning of my fascination with creating unconventional ways of improving people’s health? This passion for finding solutions to community health problems was my primary motivation to pursue a Bachelor's in Public Health.

My belief that public health problems can be tackled from different angles has motivated me to take a rigorous curriculum in not only public health, but in marketing and SISE (social innovation and social entrepreneurship). Looking for a more hands-on experience, I volunteered with the hospital administration of The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City the summer before my junior year. I attended hospital board meetings, evaluated doctors, interacted with community members on behalf of the hospital, and wrote grants. My biggest accomplishment was playing a vital role in helping secure a one million dollar donation for TBHC through my research on the value of community and hospital relationships. After that summer, I determined that my ultimate career goal would be to work to improve our current healthcare system so that all American citizens could live longer, happier, and healthier lives regardless of their ethnic, social, or financial background.

When I was 15 years old, I performed community service in Guatemala City. When I was 17 years old, I traveled to Belize to help build houses for underprivileged families. In both countries, I saw the detrimental effects of a failing healthcare system. While studying abroad in Australia during my junior year, I witnessed how a community could benefit from having a more structured and equitable healthcare system. More than ever, I recognized the importance of having the right healthcare leaders who could make a difference in health outcomes for an entire nation.

I have always thought that the strength of a community relies on the existence of equal opportunities for everyone to pursue any passion in any field. This includes someone like me, who comes from third-world country immigrant parents and who would be the first person in the family to pursue a master’s degree. My only ammunition is passion, discipline, creativity, respect, resilience, gratefulness, and a true desire to make health care available to all Americans regardless of their financial ability. As I begin to work towards a Master's in Public Health in Health Care Management from the Yale School of Public Health, I am one step closer to my ultimate life goal: to be the change I wish to see in the world.