JoyofDiscovery

JOYOF DISCOVERY

goodbeginningisofgreatimportance”

VENERABLE CATHERINE MCAULEY

WMA classrooms are filled with students who are exploring new ideas, reaching new heights, and achieving academic success.

Joining a Global Initiative

Waldron educati Mercy on pro joine gram d an this inter year: national Global Maker Day! Educators started the event to give students an opportunity to be innovative,

confident problem solvers through hands-on learning experiences. It also enables schools around the world to connect and share their ideas through video feeds, blogs, and social media using the hashtag #GlobalMakerDay.

Each grade had specific, timed challenges with limited materials that students completed in small groups or pairs. For example, sixth graders built prototypes with plastic connectors based on specific prompts. One group was challenged to make a necklace to protect its wearer from the weather (pictured) while another group had to figure out how to make wings for a whale.

“It was a little hard at first to talk about everyone’s different ideas, but we eventually combined everyone’s thoughts,” reflected Téa Oliver, a member ofthe group that made the whale wings. “I liked the way it turned out in the end.”

Top: Maggie Schmidt, McKenzie Blackmon, andRyan McDonaldcomplete a block ballpath. Left: Olivia Wolanin andMimi O’Malleydisplay theirnecklace prototype. Right: Thirdgrader Evan Kratz testsa parachute.

Diversity, Equity,

Th is Sys sum tem mer MESA ( ofthe Ameri Mer cas) cy pr Educa ovided tion us curriculum resources to include more African American history in our middle grades’ language arts and social studies programs, and we are adapting those ideas for our younger students. Our staffis also enhancing the Mercy and social justice themed religion curr iculum MESA schools developed last year.

In order to uphold our mission, and to better teach the Critical Concern ofAntiRacism, we had already decided to purchase items our children see and use within our walls to better reflect the variety ofpeople, cultures, and experiences that exist in the world. We are expanding our culturally

and Inclusion

(DEI)

d iverse fiction and non-fiction reading material, especially those written by Black, Brown, and other people ofcolor, and displaying more Black, Brown, and other people ofcolor in our halls and classrooms, including featuring a photograph ofSr. Cora Marie Billings, a Philadelphia native and the first African American Sister ofMercy.

T his September we had already planned a Dr. Mykee Fowlin ‘You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me’ workshop for our older students, and we will be implementing a bias incident reporting process. Conversations will continue among our staff, DEI Committee, and our Board ofTrustees as we strive to live our mission.

ALUMNI ON THE FRONTLINES

From the frontlines of the COVID-19 to the frontlines of the fight for social justice and the Critical Concern of Anti-Racism, here are just a few leaders who got their start at Waldron Mercy Academy.

Lauren Solometo ’02, D.O., provided mental health services to patients as she finished her last year of residency in psychiatry at the University of Virginia. Technology, she says, has greatly helped her practice. “At UVA, we’ve been grateful for telemedicine which has allowed us to continue safely providing mental health services to our patients during the pandemic.”

Lauren will soon return to the Philadelphia area to practice with Main Line Health.

Lauryn Redcross ’18 used her Mercy roots to organize a peaceful protest in Bryn Mawr, Pa., after the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubrey and George Floyd. “I began to contemplate When did myskin colorbecome a threat? Howmanymore people ofcolorhave to die because ofit? and Could I be next?” she explained. She organized the event alongside fellow members of the Black Student Union at The Shipley School. “We wanted to raise awareness that racial injustices, overt or implied, are plaguing our world and people of color are dying as a result of hatred and bigotry.”

Matthew Young ’95, BSN, RN, CNOR, provided immediate care to COVID-19 patients in the ICU of Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia. “It was tough watching patients fall victim to this virus and not be able to have their loved ones at their side. I felt privileged to be there for them, and commit to the spirit of Mercy that taught me no one dies alone.”