Honoring Mothers with Healthy Waters

This year we celebrate Mother's Day on May 12th.  How do you plan to honor or remember your Mother?  For Sacred Heart alums of yesteryear we remember our educational "Mothers" ... the many RSCJ who touched our lives in so many ways.  

Sacred Heart alums are taught to live out St. Madeleine Sophie Barat’s vision of “social awareness that impels to action”.  If you have not had a chance to browse the new RSCJ website I encourage you to do so.  You will see that the RSCJ continue to educate us with a powerful group called Healthy Waters and Coastal Restoration Group.  To read an update and/ or if you wish to join the group - click here. 

And, Just in time for Mother’s Day, Water.org has released a powerful and inspirational video called “Three Mothers, Three Stories", narrated by Jodie Foster.  The link to the short video was forwarded to me by Melanie Guste, RSCJ.  It is meant to inspire us and I think it will!  

Info below is taken from www.rscj.org

RSCJ .... Our Mission Lived

The Healthy Waters and Coastal Restoration Interest Group formed in 2009 in response to the continuing environmental crisis in the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina four years earlier. Group members participate in advocacy networks, sign petitions, and share information, resources and prayer. The group’s goal is to live the priority for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation of the General Chapter of 2008:

Journeying with peoples of different contexts, races, and cultures, and listening profoundly to the joys and suffering of humanity have allowed us to be touched by the poverty, inequality, exclusion, violence, and environmental destruction that are present in today’s world. We recognize with greater clarity the interconnectedness of global realities and the impact these have on our local situations. We are more aware of the marginalizing effects of globalization and of cultures of dominance and exclusion. (Chapter 2008)

Members of the Society of the Sacred Heart believe that “to educate is in itself an act of justice,” (Letter of the General Council, June, 2006) so they educate themselves and others as citizens of God’s world and of creation. An important dimension to their activities is conscientious living, that is, making small daily choices in their lifestyle to reflect respect for creation.

The Healthy Waters and Coastal Restoration Group has a Facebook group, open to anyone interested in learning more about living in harmony with the environment. Please visit the page and click the “ask to join” button. All members of the Sacred Heart family and friends are also invited to join the Healthy Waters Group and learn more about this critical issue. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Sister Melanie Guste at mguste@rscj.org.

AASH Announces Joan Lueder Coffey Service Award with IVC and BEF

Sr. Marguerite Green, RSCJ (BC'43) and
Joan Lueder Coffey (BC'65)

    AASH BOARD ANNOUNCES NEW

JOAN LUEDER COFFEY SERVICE AWARD

                                                                                                                                                                                                   
The Board of Directors of the Associated Alumnae & Alumni of the Sacred Heart (AASH) announces the inauguration of The Joan Lueder Coffey Service Award.  The award establishes a new partnership with the Barat Education Foundation (BEF) and the Ignatian Volunteer Corps-Chicago (IVC).

The Award will be publicly announced at the Madonna Della Strada Chapel at Loyola University-Lakeshore Campus on May 8, 2013, 5 -7 pm.  All Sacred Heart alums are invited to attend the event.  For more info click here.

The award is named in honor of a Sacred Heart alumna of Barat College, Class of 1965.   Joan Coffey believed deeply in the values of education and service to the poor.  She passed away in 2003.

Dr. Coffey was a life-long educator and student. She was born in Chicago, and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree. from Barat College and her Ph.D. in History from the University of Colorado.

 She taught for many years in public and private secondary schools including Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, Lake Forest. IL. Dr. Coffey joined the faculty at Sam Houston State University in 1990, where she was Associate Professor of History at the time of her death.

 She is author of Leon Harmel: Entrepreneur on Catholic Social Reform, published posthumously by Notre Dame Press.

 The Ignatian Volunteer Corps is a national organization that provides retired and semi-retired individuals, aged 50 and older, opportunities to volunteer in poor and marginalized communities. IVC volunteers commit two days per week, 10 months per year – generally September-June – in direct
service to those in need.  Volunteers also participate in a comprehensive faith formation program in the Jesuit Catholic tradition. It is a one-year commitment with the option for renewal.

 The JLC Service Award will support the placement of an IVC-Sacred Heart alum in the Chicago region who volunteers at a school that promotes educational opportunities for students of limited means and/or at an IVC partner agency servicing the materially poor.


   IVC Chicago is a vibrant, growing program with 50+ volunteers serving across four counties and three dioceses in the Chicagoland area.  IVC members volunteer in diverse capacities from tutoring/mentoring at all levels of education; working at food pantries/soup kitchens; immigration advocacy; social service; hospital chaplaincy; prison ministry and beyond.

Volunteers meet monthly as a Christian faith community from September to June and participate in days of reflection and an annual retreat. Each member is matched with a spiritual reflector with whom he/she meets monthly to reflect on his/her service experience.

AASH is proud to promote the Joan Lueder Coffey Service Award and the Ignatian Volunteer Corps as a unique opportunity for retired Sacred Heart alums to continue living out St. Madeleine Sophie Barat’s vision of “social awareness that impels to action” and her commitment to ongoing personal faith development.

AASH, BEF, and IVC Chicago anticipate that this award will be a model for the establishment of other endowed “named” service awards in regions where AASH and IVC alums are working with the underserved.  AASH, a 501 (c) 3 organization, serves more than 60,000 Sacred Heart alumnae/I in the United States and Canada.

For more information on the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, please visit the IVC website at www.ivcusa.org  (click on ‘Chicago’). To attend an IVC information session in your area, register to attend the May 8 Madonna Della Strada Award reception, or inquire about endowing a named service award, please contact Christine Curran, IVC Regional Director, at 773-865-9810 or ccurran@ivcusa.org

The Barat Education Foundation is an independent 501(c) 3 organization, established in 2000 prior to the sale of Barat College to DePaul University. At that time, the Foundation was charged with the development and support of innovative educational programs and services that reflected the values and educational tradition of Barat College.

When DePaul University closed Barat College in June 2005, the Board of Directors voted
to perpetuate and build upon the Barat legacy of education, leadership and advocacy.  Today, the Barat Education Foundation is committed to continuing and adapting the heritage and legacy of Barat College to the 21st-century world.

For more information about the Barat Education Foundation, visit the BEF website at
http://www.thebaratfoundation.org.  ##

Happiness - A Poem by April O'Leary, RSCJ

The Happy Faces of Sacred Heart Schools Chicago -  "Brownie Troop"

Happiness

The mad philosopher


nibbling peanuts, feeding


lettuce to his


tortoise, chocolate


beans


to children button-eyed


with wonder,


burrowing into skies


like velvet


with a telescope


once used


at Trafalgar



is happy


to advance the cause


of happiness


by being


happy

April O'Leary , RSCJ (1922-2013)

Province of England - Wales

As we end National Poetry Month and enter the Merry Month of May how providential that I should discover this evening a lovely poem written by Sr. April O'Leary. The photo above is taken from Sacred Heart Schools Chicago and shows the very happy faces of the Brownie Troop. 

More about Sr. April O'Leary taken from the Society of the Sacred Heart England & Wales website is below. 

Born in 1922, April was one of 34 cousins to be educated at Sacred Heart schools, like their mothers and grandmother. During the Second World War she worked on farms as a "land girl", then in a NAAFI canteen and an aircraft factory before joining the Society in 1946. She made her first vows in September 1948 - 65 years ago - and was finally professed in 1955.

April read English Literature at Oxford, and taught this for many years at our schools  in Hove, Tunbridge Wells and St Julian's in Malta, and at Digby Stuart College. She later moved into spirituality work, spending seven years as part of our community at Llannerchwen, near Brecon, and then at Marden Lodge, in the grounds of Woldingham School. Both were rural locations, which the former "land girl" enjoyed immensely. In 2010 ill health meant a move to Duchesne House, where she died after a short illness.

Among other things April was a gifted writer and poet, and it is fitting that she should express herself in her own words. You can read her account of her vocation here, and some of her poetry here and here.

Several years ago, when a young sister made her first vows, April sent her a quote, from Julian of Norwich, which meant a lot to her. We can be sure that when April arrived in the fullness of God's presence, she heard these words once more:

My darling I am glad that thou art come to me, in all thy woe I have been ever with thee, now seest thou my loving, and we be oned in bliss.

Hurry - A Poem by Marie Howe

Hurry

We stop at the dry cleaners and the grocery store 
and the gas station and the green market and
Hurry up honey, I say, hurry, as she runs along two or three steps behind me her blue jacket unzipped and her socks rolled down.
To mine? Where one day she might stand all grown? 
you walk ahead of me. You be the mother.

Where do I want her to hurry to? To her grave?
Today, when all the errands are finally done, I say to her, 
Honey I'm sorry I keep saying Hurry—

And, Hurry up, she says, over her shoulder, looking 
back at me, laughing. Hurry up now darling, she says, 
hurry, hurry, taking the house keys from my hands.

--- Poem by by Marie Howe, 

                                                                                                       alumna of Prince Street class of 1968

Editors Note:  Marie Howe is the niece of Srs. Madeline and Margaret "Kelly" Howe, RSCJ who are both deceased.  I thought Marie's poem was befitting as we end National Poetry Month and celebrate her  appointment as 10th New York State Poet. 

Poem copyright ©2008 by Marie Howe, and reprinted from "When She Named Fire," ed., Andrea Hollander Budy, Autumn House Press, 2009. First published in "The Kingdom of the Ordinary" by Marie Howe, W.W. Norton, 2008. Used by permission of Marie Howe and the publisher. 

Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart Hosts Annual Congé and Honors Barbara Wood-Prince

Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart hosts  Congé 2013

Saturday, April 27th,  Woodlands hosted its 40th annual major Fundraising Event - Congé 2013

The Event Co-Chairs: Heather Kotlarz, Tom Flint and Lori Rosdalsky and the Live and Silent Auction Chairs: Mary Oelerich and Alison Kohlmeyer did a fabulous job! The room was beautifully displayed with an array of auction items and every detail was carefully thought out... from the Program, the Menu, right down to the Special Congé dessert!  

Tami Rocha, Associate Director of Marketing for Special Events and the Advancement office did an outstanding job as well!  

Congé Co-Chair Tom Flint said, "this year’s event will have a special twist. Congé will honor someone who has made an incredible difference to the Woodlands Academy community. Barbara Wood-Prince, a Board of Trustee member since 2007, will be recognized for her tremendous philanthropic initiatives to Woodlands. Congé is one way we come together as a community to celebrate the special place that Woodlands is and to help financially ensure that the educational mission of Woodlands Academy continues into the future. Woodlands is a place where each girl is encouraged to be a leader. So it’s fitting that we recognize one of our leaders while we raise funds to be solely used to help educate future leaders.”  

Barbara Wood-Prince, an alumna of Woodlands and Convent of the Sacred Heart (Noroton, CT) has been nominated by Woodlands Academy for the 2013 Archdiocesan Development Council IMPACT award which honors a volunteer or staff member whose commitment, energy and vision have promoted Catholic education in the school community of which he or she is a part. A resident of Lake Forest, Barbara co-chaired a multi-million dollar campaign to build a new Science Center to better equip students to pursue study in STEM fields, where women are generally under-represented. Barbara attended elementary school at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, in the basement of what later became Barat College in Lake Forest, the predecessor of Woodlands Academy.

It was a special evening for me as I first "met" Barbara Wood-Prince many years ago over the phone as I did research on alums who had attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart elementary school, in preparation for the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the founding of the school.  After many years our paths have finally crossed, and we met in person at last year's Congé.  Barbara so richly deserved to be recognized and honored this evening for her faithful dedication over the years to Woodlands Academy. 

It was most rewarding to listen to Bridgett Riverol WA'13 speak of the gratitude she has for her Sacred Heart education.  Bridget proudly told us that she has been accepted at Northwestern University and will start this fall. 

I was especially grateful to be seated with Woodlands Academy Board Trustee, Margaret Mary O'Neill Conley, WA'49 and her husband, John who I have known for over 20 years, when we worked together. Additionally, Trustees John Popoli and his wife Chris; Mike Paterson and his wife Ann; and Marni Soderland Mans, WAAA President, were at my table. It was a delightful group and spectacular evening!  

Nancy Morris, RSCJ Honored with Alemany Award

Nancy Morris, RSCJ

Every year, in memory of Arcbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, OP, the first archbishop of San Francisco, the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology honors men and women who have distinguished themselves by exemplary service to the church and community. This year the Alemany Award was presented to five religious whose work has exemplified the service to the church for which their congregations were founded.  One of those honored at the Alemany Award Dinner on April 6th was our very own Sr. Nancy Morris, RSCJ.   

Born and raised in Piedmont, California, Sister Nancy Morris was the middle child of seven children of John Morris and Thelma Toomey Morris. Attending local public schools, she graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in June, 1949 with a BA in English

A trip to post-war Europe deeply impacted her faith and, after a year teaching in a local high school, she entered the noviceship of the Religious of the Sacred Heart in Albany, New York. After her first vows, she returned to California to teach at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco and thence to the boarding school in Menlo Park (now Atherton). She taught sophomores for three years before going to Rome to prepare for her final vows, made on July 29th, 1959.

Returning to Menlo Park, she continued to teach and was made Principal of the Convent School. Introduced to school administration on the Community's well-worn principle of "learning by doing", she prepared second-graders for 1st Communion and taught the seniors Religion. Suddenly, when she was getting the hang of the job, she was made President of the San Diego College for Women, and worked to merge the Women's College with the Men's College to become the one University of San Diego in 1971. She was then sent back to Menlo Park to become Director of Schools.

In 1998 Sister Morris was given a sabbatical and lived directly opposite St. Mary Magdalen Church in Berkeley. Dealing with the Loma Prieto earthquake and the Berkeley fire at that time were memorable experiences.

Sr. Morris moved to San Jose to work with the poor and homeless. She raised funds and wrote the monthly newsletter for the San Jose Family Shelter, witnessing first-hand the desperation so many new immigrants and impoverished families experience in our culture. She learned how to write foundation grants, a skill that held her in good stead as her Superiors asked her to travel the country, to help poverty-based ministries write proposals.

She went on to become the Development Director at an inner city Catholic school for girls in Chicago founded by the Sisters of Christian Charity. She returned to the Bay Area in 1997 and worked for a time at her old school in Menlo-Atherton. In the mornings, she worked at St. Raymond Elementary School while writing grants and the newsletter for Oakwood the Society's Infirmary on the campus of Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton. She continues to hold these two jobs today, enjoying being with young children once again. She is more involved with her parish, St. Raymond's and serves as co-chaplain to the Serra Club.

Congratulations to Nancy Morris, RSCJ!