SERVICE HIGHLIGHT
SILPS
How can you use your skillset to bring about change? By Christie Wilson St. Christopher’s founded the Summer Institute on Leadership and Public Service (SILPS) in 1999 to empower students to forge relationships and initiate change. The program includes a diverse high school group from the Richmond metro area that wrestles with social justice issues while learning about leadership through service. Funded by the family of Richmond leader T. Justin Moore Jr., SILPS helps rising seniors find their voice, clarify their values and align their actions with others in a common calling for civic engagement. In my mind, SILPS represents the future. I find a sense of hope surrounded by young people truly energized by helping others. The program shows how quickly connections can be made. In just three weeks, students from different schools and backgrounds build bonds that will last beyond the short amount of time spent together on our campus. Working alongside Lower School Academic Support Teacher Jen O’Ferrall, Middle School History Teacher Jon Piper and Middle School Science Teacher Kyle Burnette is a joy. We learn from each other, and we learn from students, admiring how they let down their walls and connect.
CHRISTIE WILSON Math Teacher Christie Wilson, the Middle School director of student life, has led Saturday Academy since it started 14 years ago, as well as the Summer Institute on Leadership and Public Service.
The program uses a leadership curriculum, internships and problem-solving exercises to explore challenges in such areas as education, housing, equal rights and the environment. It exposes students to underserved or special needs communities, including The Faison Center, Beyond Boundaries, Shepherd’s Way Relief Center and Sportable. Driven by a sense of fairness and equity, these programs promote aid, comfort, guidance, advocacy, hope and humanity. SILPS is a great example of how our students live the St. Christopher’s mission. As students wrestle with social justice issues in our city, the hands-on practice of helping others becomes workable, tangible and significant.
WINTER 2020 | 19