Fall 2009 • A Publication of the Sisters of Charity, BVM
EDUCATION:
Shaping Students
in a Global World and Church
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Mission Statement: As Sisters of Charity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are called to
participate in the mission of Jesus. Our choice
of ministry is in keeping with our BVM mission:
being freed and helping others enjoy freedom
in God’s steadfast love. BVM Constitutions,
No. 10
SALT is a quarterly magazine published for
friends of the Sisters of Charity, BVM.
Editor/Design: Angie Connolly
Managing Editor: Carey Lange
Communication Advisory Committee:
Dan Abben, Associate; Mary Pat Haley, BVM;
Harriet Holles, BVM; Mary Martens, BVM;
Mira Mosle, BVM; Mary Jeanne Stopper,
BVM; Betty Voss, BVM
Subscriptions: $7.50 per year, write: SALT,
1100 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, Iowa 520037991, ph. (563) 588-2351, or email: rbechen@bvmcong.org
Internet Address: www.bvmcong.org
Email Address: aconnolly@bvmcong.org
2009-10 Calendar
October
25 Benefactors’ Mass, Wright Hall
November
1 Benefactors’ Mass, Mt. Carmel
20-22 SOA Watch Peace Rally, Ft. Benning
April 2010
18 Immaculata HS Alumnae Luncheon,
Chateau Ritz, Chicago
25 St. Mary HS Alumnae Luncheon, The
Carlisle, Lombard, Ill.
May
2 Mass of Remembrance for Friends,
Family of Deceased BVMs, Mt. Carmel
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Seasoning
by BVMs Mary Ann Zollmann, Mira Mosle
and Teri Hadro
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Convergent Avatars
The Spirit of Connectedness: How
Education Shapes Lives in a Global Culture
by Mary Pat Haley, BVM
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Bernadette McManigal, BVM
by Marge Clark, BVM
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Mary Frances McLaughlin, BVM
by Sara McAlpin, BVM
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Pat Rogers, BVM
by Mary Jeanne Stoppper, BVM
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Rita Basta, BVM
by Marilyn Wilson, BVM
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Bringing a Library to Birth in Ghana
by Laurene Brady, BVM and Irene Lukefahr, BVM
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Therese Fassnacht, BVM
by Peggy Nolan, BVM
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Isabel Conchos, BVM
by Mary Clare Sweeney, BVM
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Janice Link, BVM
by M. Therese Casey, BVM Associate
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Mary Lou Wetzell, BVM
by Margaret A. McGinn, BVM
16
Marian Hurley, BVM
by Maureen Sheehan, BVM
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Salt Briefs
17
Roberta White, BVM
by Anne Kendall, BVM
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The BVM Memoir Project
BVM Website Feature:
Did you know
you can send an
email to a sister
from the BVM
website?
Sister Profile: Jeanelle Bergen, BVM
by Mary Alma Sullivan, BVM
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Simply type in her name, or religious name,
in the appropriate field and then click search.
When you find the sister you are looking for,
click on the email link to the right to send her
a message.
To find the sister directory go to:
www.bvmcong.org/contact_directory.cfm.
Sister on the Hill: Dolores Doohan, BVM
by Jean Byrne, BVM
Book Review: Born in Chicago: A History
of Chicago’s Jesuit University
by Frances Loretta Berger, BVM
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Education: Shaping Students
in a Global World and Church
Fall Two Thousand Nine
Volume 38, Number 1
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Jubilarian Celebrations
On the cover: Mary Lou Wetzell, BVM, early childhood
educator, congratulates Benedict Center Preschool graduate
David Hiatt. (Photo courtesy of Linda Hiatt) Read about all
levels of education in the pages ahead, as the Sisters work
to prepare students for life in our modern world.
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SEASONing
Dear SALT Readers,
To open the pages of this issue of
SALT is to embark with BVMs on the
continuing adventure of our ministry
as educators.
Education, a word derived from the
Latin e-ducere meaning “to lead out,”
suggests the dynamic of going beyond,
expanding, and being liberated from
confinement. Education is at the heart
of who we BVMs are as women who
continually reach beyond present geographical, psychological, relational and
spiritual boundaries and invite others to
do the same.
As we state in describing education as
one of our core values, “To be educated
is to recognize our gifts and to develop
our potential. It is to recognize our
interdependence. It is to become whole
and integrated” (Core Values Booklet).
The process of education keeps us on
the move, constantly growing into the
fullness of our personhood and the
embrace of ever wider relationships.
The BVM adventure of education originated with our foundress, Mary Frances
Clarke, a diminutive woman geographically bounded first by a small cottage
in Ireland and later by a modest home
on an Iowa prairie, but whose vision
pierced ever receding horizons of possibility, whose heart overflowed with the
desire to spread liberating love beyond
containment in any one place, and
whose imagination drew her beyond
the limits of her personal experience.
In that spirit her desire was that her
sisters would be true educators, women
awake to the world and committed to
awakening others to the world.
We must wake up their minds by
constantly calling into action their
powers of observation and reasoning, and incite them to ascertain
for themselves. If we do not do
this, they will grow up blind to the
manifold beauty of God’s creation;
they will study none of the plans
of nature that are constantly working so wonderfully above, around
and beneath. But to so direct the
minds of visible creation of God
(Mary Frances Clarke, “Regarding
Schools,” 1884).
It all started in 1831, in a small school
on North Ann Street in Dublin, Ireland;
spread across the ocean to St. Michael’s
and Sacred Heart in Philadelphia, westward to St. Raphael in Dubuque and, by
the end of the 19th century embraced
a continent. The list of BVM schools
reads like a litany: Frances Xavier, St.
Mary, St. Patrick, Immaculate Conception, Holy Family, St. Vincent, Corpus
Christi, and St. Anthony, to name but a
few, and, in 1961, at its most expansive
included 188 elementary schools, high
schools, and colleges staffed by 1,838
BVMs.
Then, in the 1960s, with the event of
Vatican II, we BVMs resonated with
the call of the Spirit of God stirring
in church and world, beckoning us to
appreciate our vocation in a larger context and to claim a wider arena for our
mission. Ever responsive to an always
expanding Spirit, some among us
moved beyond the walls of traditional
schools bearing the freeing power of
education to literacy and advocacy programs, senior and spirituality centers,
parishes and prisons, research institutes
and hospital rooms, counseling and
administrative offices.
In the last 40 years, most of the
schools we staffed in the 1960s have
closed and the number of our sisters
has diminished; but the educational
spirit that has defined us since our
beginnings reaches beyond confinement in quantitative statistics.
In this issue of SALT, you will meet
BVMs from California to Kumasi,
Ghana. You will spend time in
elementary, secondary and college
classrooms, an occupational center, a
preschool, a wellness clinic, and even
on a front porch. You will accompany
BVM tutors, administrators, therapists,
historians, technologists, mathematicians, musicians, dramatists, and
story-tellers as they creatively shape
a generation for realities of a global
world and church. And you may
sense the delight of those BVMs as, in
the process, they discover boundless
worlds of their own.
From 1831 to the present, our defining dynamic spirit of education has
persisted in leading us beyond the
parameters of existing geographical
locations, static self-concepts, provincial relationships and single sociocultural-religious mindsets taking us
to “any part of the world where there
is promise of furthering the mission
of Jesus through works of education,
justice and peace.”
Enjoy the adventure!
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
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Convergent Avatars
The Spirit of Connectedness:
How Education Shapes Lives in a Global Culture
by Mary Pat Haley, BVM
“The other week I wanted to buy a cell phone—you
know, to make phone calls,” Henry Jenkins, MIT professor of Comparative Media Studies, wrote. “I didn’t
want a video camera, a still camera, a Web access
device, an mp3 player or a game system. I also wasn’t
interested in something that could show me movie
previews, would have customizable ring tones, or
would allow me to read novels. I didn’t want the electronic equivalent of a Swiss army knife.
“When the phone works I don’t want to have to figure
out which button to push. I just wanted a phone. The
sales clerks sneered at me; they laughed at me behind
my back. I was told by company after mobile company
that they don’t make single-function phones any more.
Nobody wants them. This was a powerful demonstration of how central cell phones have become to the
process of media convergence.” —Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, 2006
“We are living on a very different planet from the one
we lived on even a few years ago. The age of the globally integrated economy and society has arrived. The
world is becoming flatter, which means any size company, from any place on earth, can now establish a
global footprint. In fact, midsize and small businesses
are now responsible for nearly 65% of the global GDP.
The world is also becoming smaller as real-time communication and the internet link people, processes and things
with unprecedented speed and frequency. (Italics added)
By 2011, there will be two billion people and one trillion
connected objects on the Web.’’ —IBM advertisement,
Chicago Tribune, July 7, 2009
So, you ask, what do these passages have to do
with each other and have to do with anything of my
interest? What brings these ideas to the pages of
SALT? What is their common link?
The answer to the first question is simple. We are looking at a word, a concept or a process these passages
have in common, namely converge or convergence.
Trying to define convergence is sticky. Depending on
one’s field of interest (e.g., mathematics, natural sciences, computing and technology, social sciences, philosophy), the definition will differ. But each of these
areas has its ongoing convergence research. The most
general definition is: the occurrence of two or more
things, processes or ideas coming together, merging,
joining, moving toward.
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My personal favorite definition comes from technological convergence: “the tendency for different technological systems to evolve toward performing similar
tasks.” We live in a “convergence culture,” a culture that
touches every aspect of our lives. Think of this as you
follow the cute little robot created for an AT&T ad as
she tries to interest you in internet services.
Recall the plight of Henry Jenkins. All he wanted was a
simple phone to make a single call. (Has his experience
ever been yours?) He could do it with his phone but he
had no use for shooting video with his integrated video
camera, or using his mp3 player or reading novels (he
now has the Kindle for that!). All the features available
on cell phones as we know them today are the convergence of earlier technologies which merged with one
another. Each new feature today is touted (read: “advertised”) as an essential element of the new technology.
But a simple phone without slick features is part of the
past. Convergence has made this so.
The convergence features in the IBM ad are more
subtle because they deal with ideas not things. In a
full-page ad which sings the praises of midsize businesses, IBM asserts, “The age of the globally integrated
economy and society has arrived.” Presenting the values of midsize businesses, the IBM ad suggests what
we already know: “The world is becoming smaller as
real-time communication and the internet link people,
processes and things with unprecedented speed and
frequency.” This is good for the development of new
businesses, IBM says, as it will “provide the support
and know-how to help turn their vision into reality
and their ideas into results.”
This issue of SALT focuses on education as a process
of and strategy for shaping lives in a global culture.
While the language of convergence will most likely
not be specifically evident, it is safe to say that the
spirit of connectedness among teachers, administrators and students will address the realities of a global
environment. We cannot escape our world of blogs,
twitter, podcasting, Facebook, texting, YouTube. Children three years old can teach their moms how to use
a familiar computer program. Skype can link us continents apart. Everyone can have a public voice. Convergence has made these innovations possible.
About the author: Mary Pat Haley, BVM (St. Thomas) is a professor emerita of communications at Loyola University Chicago. She
is also a member of the BVM Communications Advisory Committee.
Bernadette McManigal, BVM
Driven by a Passion for Leadership
by Marge Clark, BVM
Teaching children, adolescents
Intercultural Experiences
and even adults enlivens and chal-
For Bernadette, intercultural experiences are not limited to the social studies curriculum. A favorite example is
a math teacher who assigned students
the task of determining a monthly budget for a teacher in Ecuador, given the
teacher’s salary and resources for costing out housing, food, healthcare and
other necessities. The students were
shaken—necessities could not be met
on the salary. The assignment took
them far beyond the walls of the math
classroom to serious consideration of
another culture’s economic challenges
and led them to explore international
organizations. A typical math assignment with a twist: pushing students to
engage in issues of justice.
lenges many BVMs and friends. Some
enjoy the challenges of principalship, encouraging and raising up the
development of teachers, curriculum
and even discipline. Far fewer spirits are uplifted and energized by the
expanded challenges of leading an
entire system of schools.
Bernadette McManigal, BVM (Lucinus) is currently superintendent of
Catholic schools in Arlington, Va.,
called from a retirement of ministering
at a middle school. Nine previous years
were as superintendent in Lexington,
Ky., with earlier years teaching and
ministering as curriculum director in
Joliet, Ill., and Kansas City, Mo.
Global Vision of Education
Bernadette consistently expands
her vision of what is most critical for
young people’s learning as they prepare
to actively engage in our ever-shifting
global society. “Global” is key to Bernadette’s vision of education. An understanding of geography “for the real
world in which they live, not an imagined world” becomes an important part
of discussions with teachers.
Making connections among history,
culture and geography goes beyond
knowing dates, other facts and brief
experience of national customs. Students need to experience diversity—
consistently and in multiple contexts.
Questions arising from their experiences need to be consistently pursued
in order for learning to be a meaningful preparation for life in our globalized society. Bernadette’s commitment
to this has only become more deeply
rooted since coming to the Arlington
schools. Her zip code has the greatest
breadth of diversity in the United States.
Creativity Across the System
Creative classroom teachers often
carry out powerful lessons. But, some of
Bernadette’s passion and energy come
from the challenge of bringing meaningful learning to entire schools and districts.
A favorite experience in Lexington
was developing an arts consortium,
linked to cultures, across five urban
schools. The project involved writing a
grant, forming a leadership team among
teachers, studying what a good arts curriculum would be, and finally developing an interdisciplinary arts curriculum,
which could be implemented by the
schools. Other schools could take the
resulting curriculum and adapt it, being
responsible to reflect its own school
character.
Bernadette recognizes the challenges
of being a superintendent. Implementation of new programs requires buy-in
from several groups. The slowness of
working through these processes is her
greatest frustration of the job.
Personal Interaction
Beyond her work with principals
and boards, Bernadette makes a point
Bernadette McManigal, BVM congratulates a
young student who displays his great artistic potential. (Photo courtesy of Ken Balbuena)
of interacting with teachers and with
students as much as possible. When in
schools, she chats with children about
what they are doing and pursues their
understanding of why they are doing
it. She asks older students what they
anticipate they will learn in the next
class, believing that anticipating is an
important skill. She is always interested
in students’ perceptions of their favorite
school experiences—and what made it
such a good experience?
Her quest is to keep learning how to
make “favorite” experiences an everyday happening. Bernadette explores
with teachers and board members their
views on good education, and how the
school promotes good education and
broadens horizons.
Bernadette lives a passion for leadership, a passion for good education and
a passion for broadening horizons, preparing young people for an engaged life
in a globalized society.
About the author: Marge Clark, BVM (Marie
Margaret) is a lobbyist for NETWORK, a national
Catholic social justice lobby. She resides in Washington, D.C.
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
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Photos of Cristo Rey
students courtesy of
Steve Donisch
Mary Frances Speaks
on Her Development
Efforts at Christ the
King College Prep
Mary Frances McLaughlin, BVM
“We’ll Get There!”
by Sara McAlpin, BVM
Mary Frances Speaks on Her
Development Efforts at Christ
the King College Prep
“I am delighted that there will be an article on Christ the King,” replied Mary
Frances McLaughlin, BVM (Virginia)
when asked for an interview about the
first Catholic high school to open on
Chicago’s West Side in over 80 years.
Mary Fran’s enthusiasm is contagious
as she tours the 100,000-square-foot
building which will open in January
2010 as Christ the King Jesuit College
Preparatory School (CtK). Her enthusiasm grows even more vibrant as she
talks of the students in the inaugural
class who have just completed their
first year in temporary space at nearby
St. Martin de Porres grammar school.
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A Cristo Rey Model School
As the twenty-second Cristo Rey
model school in the United States and the
first to serve African American students
in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, CtK
shares the model’s mission of being a
Catholic Jesuit, independent,
coeducational college preparatory
school, designed to foster each
student’s intellectual and spiritual
growth built on a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ
the King seeks to inspire and prepare its students to become creative leaders, “men and women
for others,” who are committed to
work for justice in the Church, in
the civic community and in their
chosen profession.
Grounded in a creative combination of rigorous academic challenge and
corporate work-study experience plus
commitment to volunteer service in the
neighborhood, CtK expects significant
dedication, responsibility and discipline
from students, all of whom are economically disadvantaged. Admission
requirements are stringent, insisting
not only on student ability and engagement, but also on active support from
parents or other responsible adults, all
of whom participate in the application
and interview process.
The academic day at CtK begins at
7:45 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m., with
added time for students needing extra
help; work-study days are sometimes
longer, often involving lengthy trips in
school vans. Students pursue a demanding curriculum, including Latin, for
example, and challenging literary fare
like Richard Wright’s Native Son and
Elie Wiesel’s Night. They attend school
dressed in what one student describes
as “professional wear,” boys in trousers,
shirts and ties and girls in dress pants
or skirts and tops.
The Cristo Rey High School Model
The Cristo Rey high school model began in 1996 when
the Chicago Jesuit Province opened a high school for
predominantly Mexican immigrant students in the innercity Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago’s Lower West Side.
With this school, the Jesuits “launched an innovative,
nationally replicated work-study model that allows
students who otherwise couldn’t afford a college-prep
education to earn 75 percent of their tuition while gaining
life-changing experience in the workplace.
“With a total enrollment of 3,000 students nationwide and
a 98 percent success rate at sending graduates on to
college, Cristo Rey schools are transforming education
in this country and making dreams come true.”
The complete Cristo Rey story is told in More Than a
Dream: How One School’s Vision Is Changing the World,
by G. R. Kearney, published by Loyola Press in 2008.
Corporate
Work-Study Program
In addition to meeting the demands
of a rigorous, traditional college-prep
curriculum, all students participate
in the Corporate Work-Study Program
(CWSP), a unique component of Cristo
Rey schools. With academic schedules
structured to allow “time on the job,”
every student works five days a month
in a team of four, in an entry-level
position for one of approximately 25
corporate sponsors, including law and
brokerage firms, hospitals, banks and
other businesses.
Each student’s salary pays a portion
of her or his tuition. “It costs $13,000
to educate one student,” says CtK
president, Jesuit Christopher Devron.
“Through their work, each student
earns more than half of that.” The program not only allows students to invest
financially in their education but also
provides them with valuable opportunities to learn time management, professional behavior, interpersonal and team
skills, dependability and other characteristics essential for success in the contemporary world.
Student earnings are supplemented
by tuition paid on a sliding scale according to family circumstances, with some
students able to pay as little as $20 a
month. Because combined salary contributions and tuition payments cover
only about 75 percent of each student’s
cost, additional funds are provided
largely by generous donors, some of
whom contribute to the Rising Leaders’ Adopt-A-Student Program, through
which a donor “bridges the tuition gap”
by providing a student with $3,000 to
$5,000 according to need.
The BVM congregation, for example,
recently adopted a student with a
$5,000 partnership grant. Charitable
groups also frequently assist students
by providing appropriate clothing
required by the strict dress code.
Challenges of a
Capital Campaign
While all of these contributions
are essential to the daily operations of
the school, erecting a new building to
house the dedicated students, teachers
and staff has involved extraordinary
fundraising efforts. In this arena, Mary
Fran McLaughlin has been a powerful
and successful force. As the development officer responsible for major gifts,
she has faced a formidable challenge
in meeting a capital campaign goal of
$33 million for the building and other
expenses.
Designed by award-winning Chicago
architect John Ronan for a planned
maximum of 600 students, the new
building will be not only a source of
understandable pride for all CtK participants, but also a welcome beacon for
residents in the surrounding neighborhood where crime is routine.
For additional information and photos of
Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, visit www.ctkjesuit.org.
Athletic and worship space in the
new facility will provide an “oasis” for
neighborhood activity beyond the academic. With almost $20 million of the
goal already reached and $13 million to
go, Mary Fran says confidently, “We’ll
get there.” If enthusiasm about the
enterprise and persuasion to participate
are reliable indicators, she’s right!
About the author: Sara McAlpin, BVM (Philip
Mary) presently works in the Archives Office at
Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa.
“The program not only
allows students to
invest financially in
their education but also
provides them with
valuable opportunities
to learn...characteristics
essential for success
in the contemporary
world.”
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
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Pat Rogers, BVM
Continues the Legacy at St. Thomas More
by Mary Jeanne Stopper, BVM
What are some of the realities of
today’s global world and church? To
name just a few: poverty, migrants’
welfare, gender discrimination, war
and peace issues, fair trade, climate
change, the green economy, land reform, human trafficking and slavery,
hunger, drugs.
It’s important to realize that today’s
critical issues are being addressed not
only on the international and national
levels, but also within local religious
groups today. A case in point is St.
Thomas More Elementary School in
San Francisco, Calif., where Pat Rogers,
BVM (Albertine) is the vice-principal.
The faculty strives to motivate students to be globally aware citizens by
becoming involved in humanitarian
and environmental projects. Consciousness of current events, both locally and
globally, and their effect on the world
are the means of teaching students the
sacredness of all life and appreciation of
all cultures and religions.
Addressing Poverty
Students in this Catholic school collect sandwiches for the needy of the
area twice each month. Each class in the
school (K-8) is assigned a particular week,
but all students are invited to participate.
Other student-sponsored projects
that occur at Christmas time include a
parish giving tree and a holiday party
for children. The fifth-grade class is
responsible for the party. They help the
children who frequent St. Anthony’s
Dining Room (a place of hope for the
hungry and homeless neighbors living
in San Francisco) by making 250 Christmas cards and donating candy and
party bags for these children who are
less fortunate. The students develop a
real awareness of the needs of others.
Social Servants
The seventh graders, too, become
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“people of service” through their Confirmation program. They show concern
for the needy by spending many hours
working with the residents of Alma Via
Retirement Home. They participate
in art and writing workshops for the
elderly and help with bingo and other
social activities there. They volunteer
in public libraries by reading to young
children and organizing books.
These students assist Pre-K children
both before and after school. One seventh grader in particular has helped the
preschoolers develop computer skills and
good sportsmanship during playtime.
The Confirmation class also volunteers in the Glide Memorial kitchen,
serving food to the unfortunate; at the
San Francisco Food Bank, bagging food
for the needy; at the San Francisco
Parks and Recreation Department,
planting, cleaning and building; and at
area hospitals, collecting papers and
assisting with office work.
The St. Vincent de Paul
Ozanam Center
Students hold a schoolwide toiletries collection each September, and
donate the goods to the St. Vincent de
Paul Ozanam Center, a substance abuse
detoxification facility that assists addicts
who are poor and homeless. The center
is also the recipient of the students’ parish giving tree project, annual peanut
butter collection and Christmas and
Easter card projects. The students enjoy
sharing their time, talent and treasure
with the needy who come to the center.
Global Awareness
As a result of a story in the fifthgrade reader, students became motivated to purchase an acre of rainforest
in Central America. To make this
possible, they earned money at home
throughout the year. Not only did this
wonderful global outreach occur in
2008, but also four years earlier: When
the present eighth graders were in fifth
grade, their class purchased two acres of
Vice-Principal Pat Rogers, BVM (Albertine)
and students are busy on a recycling project
at St. Thomas More ES.
rainforest in Brazil.
This type of student support will help
to ensure the survival of species and
preserve the wilderness in perpetuity.
Pat Rogers expresses appreciation and
recognition to Joan Elliott, the school’s
globally aware fifth-grade teacher.
The BVM Legacy
Where great things happen, there’s
always great people to be found. The
Sisters of Charity, BVM have served St.
Thomas More School since its founding in 1954. Among the BVMs who
have kept the spirit of Mary Frances
Clarke alive and well in the “City by
the Golden Gate” are Joyce Cox, BVM
(Petrine)- (former principal), Viviana
Harmon and Julie O’Neill (former
teachers), and currently, Vice-Principal
Pat Rogers, BVM, who has been a BVM
presence at the school since 1986.
Principal Joe Elsbernd now fosters what he inherited from the BVMs
and lay teachers of this globally aware
school. Thanks to the administrators,
faculty and staff, this generation of
young people is increasingly aware of
those who have far fewer material and
spiritual advantages and opportunities
to grow and thrive in today’s world.
About the author: Mary Jeanne Stopper, BVM
(John Edward) is a member of the BVM Communications Advisory Committee. She also volunteers
at Holy Family High School, Glendale, Calif., assisting the alumnae coordinator.
Rita Basta, BVM
Brings Math Alive in the Classroom
by Marilyn Wilson, BVM
In the world of studying mathematics, it has been said many times that
students usually have either a love or a
hate relationship. One also hears that
MATH makes the world go round.
Contributing to the love and passion for math is Rita Basta, BVM (James
Celeste). Of her 44 years of teaching, she
spent the last 25 as a full-time lecturer at
California State University, Northridge
(CSUN) and teacher of one course at Los
Angeles Mission College. Her energy
abounds around calculus, college algebra and statistics but teaching math to
pre-service (future elementary school)
teachers is her driving force.
What contributed
to this focus?
Having lived with so many elementary school teachers (BVMs) while teaching high school, she recognized the need
to truly understand math. In the recent
past, she coordinated university classes
(22 per semester), a computer lab and
tutor lab. CSUN awards teacher credentials to about 1,200 students per year—a
tribute to her success! Currently, with
further study through the Carnegie Corporation initiative called Teachers for a
New Era (TNE), Rita continues to refocus her teaching not only on content but
especially on pedagogy.
Students in her classes do not “take
notes and memorize formulas” but are
actively engaged in learning “the mathematics that teachers need to know,
in order to teach math.” This requires
an in-depth understanding of basic
concepts. These are developed in the
context of cooperative learning groups,
hands-on learning activities, and many
visuals and diagrams.
In “doing and showing” rather than
only listening to class lectures, students
become less fearful and actually enjoy
the challenges and wonders of math. All
of this dynamic learning takes place in
the context of a multicultural environment. Rita reminds us that not all people solve problems with the same rules
that we were taught.
Personally energized and intellectually stimulated, Rita adds the human
touch with her math jokes and unique
teaching tools. What might suddenly
appear is the “Harry Potter wand” (which
Rita Basta, BVM instructs a CSUN pre-service math teacher on the basics of
geometry. “Doing and showing” is key to education, shares Rita.
even makes a swishing sound and lights
up as students point at the board). Want
to learn the Pythagorean theorem? In
operatic tones, Rita will lead students in
a Yankee Doodle song of key principles.
Those who know Rita are aware of her
penchant for wearing a different hat
each day. Students pay attention and
never fail to offer a comment—an unintended clever beginning to each class!
No matter what one’s career in
life—an elementary, secondary, college
teacher of math, a computer engineer, or
a politician—Rita’s endeavors testify to
the reality that math “is in every aspect
of our lives, whether it be the postman
route for your mail (network theory),
design of a golf course, knowing geometries for space travel, framing a picture,
reading charts and statistics in the newspaper, or using Excel on the computer.”
How does a teacher
eliminate fear and instill
confidence in students?
A teacher who is truly engaged in
teaching will respect diversity in the
student population, learn basics in a
creative context of collaboration and
investigation and use multiple strategies for success and retention. These
qualities and methods prepare individuals and groups, especially teachers, to
meet the realities and demands of a
global world and church.
The global realities of our world
with economic crises, ecological challenges and devastating conflicts require
educated persons who know how to
accept diversity, think logically, dream
creatively and act collaboratively.
Such an education Rita passionately
offers in the context of that most loved
and hated subject—math!
About the author: Marilyn Wilson, BVM (Claudia
Mary) is a retreat facilitator/spiritual director and a
fourth-grade instructional aide in Sunnyvale, Calif.
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
9
Bringing a
by Laurene Brady, BVM and Irene Lukefahr, BVM
EDUCATION!
BVMs, blessed
with excellent
educational
opportunities,
are aware of
the profound
importance of
education for
On their front-porch library (above)
Laurene Br ady, BVM engages
students in interesting tales of
reading; (insert) Irene Lukefahr,
BVM and a young student study an
illustration together.
the development
and quality of
life of people
everywhere.
Ghanaian students congregate as they discover their love
of books and a new world of learning at their fingertips.
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S A L T MAGAZINE
L
Library to Birth in Ghana
On a daily basis we witness the
negative consequences of a lack of
education for people in our own and
distant lands. Our God has led and continues to call BVMs to Ghana where, for
over 22 years, Mary Anne Hoope, BVM
(Bernarde Marie) has educated countless clergy, religious and laity to serve
the global church. Presently, BVMs
Therese Jacobs (Therese Carmelle),
Laurene Brady, Jackie Cramer (John
Kathleen) and Irene Lukefahr minister in various aspects of education in
Kumasi, Ghana.
Literacy Programs Lead
to a Better Way of Life
The need for education in Kumasi
is critical and the resources are very
limited. Of the adult Ghanaian population, 42 percent (50 percent of women
and 33 percent of men) are unable to
read and write. Many adults and children in Kumasi have migrated from
other regions of Ghana and speak
varied dialects but lack the opportunity to learn English, Ghana’s official
language. Being able to speak, read and
write English is a priority for empowerment. Kumasi, with a population of
approximately 1.5 million people, has
few adult literacy programs and only a
handful of libraries.
The BVM Library
Program Abounds
In the midst of this reality, the
dream for a library/literacy center is
slowly coming to birth. In December
2006, Laurene Brady began sharing
donated books with 10 to 12 young
children who came once a week to the
Centre for Spiritual Renewal. With only
word of mouth for advertising, 30 students were soon coming for books, so a
larger space was secured at St. Hubert’s
Secondary School. By September 2007,
60 children were coming and Irene
Lukefahr joined Laurene in this library
ministry. A second site on the front
porch of the BVM residence opened
for the children in the neighborhood.
By October 2008, the numbers swelled
again. Presently, 150 children from 12
different schools use the “porch” and
classroom libraries on a regular basis.
As numbers grew, students from
St. Hubert’s were recruited to help
the younger children learn the many
aspects of “library etiquette.” These
volunteers are tri-lingual and serve as
translators for younger children who
are learning English. We could not manage the library program without them!
Family, friends and our BVM sisters
and associates have generously donated
books or funds to purchase new and
used books locally, which we do on a
regular basis. However, even with all
this help, “newcomers” are often told to
come back another week when there
might be enough books, space and volunteers to accommodate them.
The second component of our
educational ministry is adult English
literacy. Laurene teaches women and
men who have never had the opportunity to attend school. Most of the literacy teaching takes place on our “front
porch” and is scheduled around the
students’ work hours. Here also, word
of mouth has expanded this part of the
program from three persons to 17.
The Next Step
Builds on the Future
Now we are at a new juncture,
needing more space and needing the
space more often. Before our dream for
a library/literacy building becomes a
reality, we need to establish ourselves
more firmly in the community, procure
the use of a room to be used exclusively
as a library and adult education center,
equip it, and train local people to staff
paid and volunteer positions. We are
blessed to have received a grant from
the BVM Ministry Partnership Fund and
are also seeking other funding sources.
We are very grateful that seven Ghanaian women and men serve on a recently
established board of directors.
Slowly our dream for a library/literacy center is coming to birth. We are
moving forward!
About the authors: Laurene Brady, BVM is a
volunteer tutor for the Diocese of Kumasi. Irene
Lukefahr, BVM works in the ministry of presence.
Both reside in Ghana, West Africa.
You’re invited!
BVMs Laurene Brady and Irene
Lukefahr invite you to partner
with them in building a library/
adult literacy center for the
people in Kumasi, Ghana.
For information on how to get
involved, visit our website,
www.bvmcong.org or call
Diane Brondyke, BVM development director, at 563.588.2351
x5570.
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
11
Therese Fassnacht, BVM
Keeping the Faith Alive on the UCLA Campus
by Peggy Nolan, BVM
A year ago Therese Fassnacht, BVM
assumed the position of Director of
Music Ministry and Campus Minister at the University Catholic Center
(UCC), University of California Los
Angeles (UCLA). Eyeing the 420-acre
UCLA campus with its 38,000-student
enrollment, she took a deep breath
and wondered what she was getting
into. Now she knows.
The UCC, staffed by two Paulist
priests, a lay woman and Therese,
serves as an anchor for the several
hundred students who pass through
its doors each week. On the Bruin
Walkway, UCLA’s main campus thoroughfare, students encounter person
after person handing out leaflets on
every imaginable topic—some appealing, many troubling to one’s personal
beliefs and upbringing. The UCC provides a place where differences and
extremes can be sorted through and put
into some kind of perspective. “Here,”
Therese says, “we can talk and laugh
and explore our Catholic faith in a variety of dimensions.”
UCC Addresses Students’
Realities of the Future
The chief way that the UCC shapes
this generation of Catholics for the
realities of a future church and world
is by providing a place where they can
learn and practice the skills needed for
tomorrow. Through retreats, workshops
and support meetings, student leaders
(SLs) learn to run an effective meeting,
facilitate conversation, problem solve
and resolve conflicts. The Gospel image
of the “servant leader” grounds and
focuses both staff and SLs as the work of
the Center unfolds.
Actively engaged in animating other
students, SLs learn quickly that student beliefs and concerns span a broad
spectrum. While different perspectives
and questions are plentiful, students
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also express a high tolerance for one
another. “Because they care about each
other,” Therese says, “they are able to
accept in each other what they would
not choose for themselves.”
Perhaps students’ readiness to
engage diversity has to do with their
own ethnicity. Vietnamese, Tagaloc,
Chinese, Spanish, German, Italian,
French, English and Portuguese are
languages heard often at the UCC. “To
celebrate Pentecost,” Therese notes, “we
did not have to create a multicultural
community for a day. We ARE a multicultural community.”
Therese identifies two realities of
a global world and church facing this
generation. The first is technology.
“These kids have every gadget at their
fingertips allowing them to communicate with one another very rapidly,”
she observes. The Facebook generation,
however, struggles to synthesize and
prioritize the information engulfing
them.
The UCC tries to help. When students go on retreat, they surrender
their handheld electronic devices for
the duration. The questions then arise:
How do I experience life without these
tools? Who am I without my gadgets?
As music director, Therese and one of
the SLs introduced
Taize prayer, a form
of community prayer
emphasizing meditative singing and
silence. Held especially during midterms
and finals, this prayer
immerses students in a
quiet atmosphere. One
participant mentioned
to Therese, “I didn’t
realize how much I
needed to just stop and
sit.”
Therese Fassnacht, BVM
works to shape the next
generation of Catholics at the
University Catholic Center,
on the UCLA campus.
A second reality noted by Therese is
the ongoing search for a life-giving faith
community. When it’s time to say goodbye to the UCC, many students struggle
with the transition to parish life. Gone
are the weekly student dinners, social
justice trips, Bible studies and beach
outings. In an intergenerational parish
with families, elderly and few young
adults, students ask, “Why aren’t my
leadership skills being called on here
as they were at the UCC?” Recognizing
this challenge, the Center offers transition workshops featuring former grads
who share the struggle and rewards of
searching for a viable faith community
to call home.
For now, however, the UCC creates
a space where faith can be lived exuberantly. “Considering all the things
students have going on,” Therese says,
“I am amazed at their energy and their
infectious sense of fun as they go about
the work of community building. For
me the future of the Church truly does
lie with them. It is a blessing to be
among them.”
About the author: Peggy Nolan, BVM (Timothy
Maura) served as vice-president for the BVM congregation from 2000-2008. She currently resides
in Dubuque, Iowa.
Isabel Conchos, BVM
Wings of the Spirit
by Mary Clare Sweeney, BVM
“How can we become Christian
missionaries today? How can we serve
the needs of the poor and oppressed in
today’s society? How can we create a
global community of diverse citizens
who respect and learn from each other?” These were some of the questions
Isabel Conchos, BVM pondered as she
was growing up in Phoenix, Ariz.
Today, Isabel advises Native American
students from several tribes who attend
Glendale Community College (GCC)
in Glendale, Ariz. At GCC, Isabel works
in the Hoop of Learning, a high school
transition program. She is also mentor
and advisor to Native American college
students, and an advisor to the Native
American Student Association (NASA).
She also volunteers in the Cursillo movement within the Phoenix Diocese.
Searching for the
Wind to Her Wings
Isabel’s worldview was shaped primarily by her parents, her teachers and
mentors, and her church (Sacred Heart)
in Phoenix. Her parish community,
for example, welcomed César Chávez
to Phoenix to organize boycotts and to
raise global awareness of the trials of
farm workers.
After meeting Marie Molloy, BVM
(Irenita) and the sisters at St. Frances
Xavier School where she was teaching,
Isabel instantly identified with Mary
Frances Clarke’s commitment to education, to her worldview, and to her vision
of education for immigrants.
Hoop of Learning
Isabel entered the BVM congregation and returned to Arizona. Currently
she recruits Native American students
to attend GCC through a summer bridge
program. Based on the Native American
Medicine Wheel concept and the Circle
of Life philosophy, the Hoop of Learning program seeks to integrate the mental, spiritual, physical and emotional
needs of students.
GCC Multicultural Affairs
program coordinator, José Mendoza, declares, “Each individual
is assessed, and we build his/her
unique program step-by-step. There
are many little victories. Students
make progress because they know
that Isabel is sincere and that she
understands and really cares about
them.”
NASA:
Wings of the Spirit
Isabel is advisor to NASA, the
Native American Student Association, which gives students wings for
their hearts and spirits by helping
them achieve their dreams and still
retain their cultural identity in an urban
setting. The association helps Native
American students deal with the culture
shock they experience when they leave
their reservations and adjust to living in
the fifth largest metropolitan area in the
United States.
Ruben Rivas, president of NASA, says,
“We come here to the city and get lost if
we cannot connect with one another. We
get lost in the noise and busyness of the
city. We need to follow the path, and not
be deterred. With NASA, we pull together
and remain strong.”
Into the Forest
Isabel encourages parents, like
Filmer Lalio, to give wings to their children’s spirits by remaining connected
with the clan and with nature. “I am
responsible to go back to the forest and
to connect with our ancestors,” Filmer
insists. “We go back to New Mexico
every year and walk barefoot in the
forest to be attuned to listening. Our
ancestors are talking to us. My children
need to be aware of our culture.”
“In the forest,” Filmer continues,
“we greet the sun every morning as it
rises, and in the evening as it sets. And
I say, ‘Thank you, Sun, for giving me
life and energy.’ In the city, we may
never see a sunrise or a sunset. In the
city, we can forget our connection. I try
Isabel Conchos, BVM meets with officers of the
Native American Student Association at Glendale
Community College, Glendale, Ariz.
to teach my children accountability and
responsibility to the community and to
the world. I try to keep the ways of our
people alive.”
Cusillo: Another Worldview
Another major influence for Isabel
came in 1979 when she experienced a
Cursillo. She was then invited to work
in the Cursillo movement, first as a
team member, committee chair, team
coordinator, then as spiritual director.
Through her connections in the Cursillo, Isabel has many spiritual companions at GCC; they form a special
community with shared values.
In the words of Stella Pope Duarte,
GCC speaker and author of Let Their
Spirits Dance, students are encouraged
to fulfill their academic goals and soar
with the wings of the spirit.
A GCC poster expresses Isabel’s ministry and the goals of the various multicultural programs:
“To keep our faces toward change,
And behave like free spirits
In the presence of fate,
Is strength undefeatable!”
About the author: Mary Clare Sweeney, BVM
(Clarita) volunteers in the Art and Soul program at
the Artists’ Studio, South Mountain, Phoenix, Ariz.
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
13
Janice Link, BVM
Developing a Global Understanding
by M. Therese Casey, BVM Associate
“One of the most important understandings that I can develop in our
students is that we are interdependent
with all other countries,” says Jan
Link, BVM (Janice) as she reflects on
teaching at Bishop Alemany High
to draw some conclusions about that
country.”
In her advanced studies, Jan specialized in the Middle East. “It’s a particular
pleasure to unfold the Genesis story of
Israel and the area where Christ lived. I
can show the students how that is connected to the Israel of today.”
School in Mission Hills, Calif.
Jan has taught at Alemany for 20
years. “That’s before and after the
earthquake in 1994,” she says. The
“Northridge” earthquake demolished
the Alemany campus and necessitated
building a whole new campus on a
nearby site. Alemany, a private diocesan high school, features a diverse
student body of Hispanic, Asian, Black
and Filipino students. The California
mission-style buildings house 1,550 students and more than 50 teachers.
“We are serious about education
here,” Jan says. “Service teachers like to
come here because there is good discipline and the students are motivated to
learn.”
Peace and Justice
Issues Affect All
In the 1980s in Los Angeles, Jan
spent intensive time working on peace
and justice issues. She draws on that
experience when she teaches her students about developing countries and
their need for investments from more
developed countries. “We are now
economically interdependent,” Jan
observes. “All of today’s issues such as
nuclear power, human rights, poverty,
war, and peace affect every country.
They also affect the relationships
among countries.”
Jan says that living in a global world
requires her students to develop a larger
picture than was necessary in the past.
She points out that “movies and TV
introduce them to a variety of cultures.
It has also made them aware of other
countries in a more immediate way.”
Jan connects her students to the
world they are learning about. “I have
the opportunity to discuss with them
their own development as persons.” She
emphasizes developing respect for both
self and others. The students can begin
practicing that respect since “we have a
good mixture here of different cultures
and each of those cultures has its own
values and problems.” She approaches
problems such as cheating and gossiping by encouraging her students to
develop internal strengths and deepen
their own values.
What is the effect of being a BVM in
a primarily secular staff? Jan believes,
“Among the staff, I think there is a
sense that as a religious I am dedicated
to teaching as a ministry. They trust me
to work for the welfare of the students.”
About the author: Mary Therese Casey is a BVM
associate, living in La Mirada, Calif., where she is
a lector and writer.
History Shapes
Today’s Events
Jan teaches history to Sophomore
classes in which she leads students
from ancient Greece to the modern
day. “I aim to develop the background
of each country,” Jan says. “It makes
a difference that Pakistan was created
by India and that China was never a
colony of another country. These past
events influence the countries today.”
Jan has students choose one country in each continent and research that
country, making maps and using all the
statistical information available. As they
learn about the country’s population,
climate, geography, trade and culture,
they begin to visualize the lives of those
people. “They pull together what they
have found and form a sense of the
country,” says Jan. “Then they are able
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Janice Link, BVM has spent 20 years connecting students at Bishop Alemany High
School to past, present and future worlds.
Mary Lou Wetzell, BVM
Embodies Her Teaching Mission
by Margaret A. McGinn
A parent entering Benedict Center
immediately encounters a welcome
plaque, which reads: “Our class is
open to kind words, friendly deeds,
happy thoughts, and love for you.”
Next to the plaque is the embodiment
of that sign, Mary Lou Wetzell, BVM.
Benedict Center, part of Chicago’s
Queen of All Saints Elementary School,
is a preschool and junior kindergarten
for children age 3-4 years. Here, Mary
Lou, the preschool teacher, is assisted
by two aides, a receptionist and a host
of volunteers.
Spacious Facilities
Because the preschool occupies the
first floor of the old convent, space is
not an issue. Separate rooms are available for different activities. One room
is dedicated to “gross motor skills,”
which includes building blocks, a model
kitchen, a train table, and an easel for
art. The “fine motor” room contains a
“sensory” table with puzzles and playdoh, and a fish tank. Teacher-led activities take place in a separate space. In
addition to ABCs, colors and shapes,
children learn religion, music, numbers,
the calendar and the weather. They join
in group exercises and have story time.
Cymbals, tambourines, rhythm sticks,
and bells line the shelves.
The convent chapel, with its stained
glass windows, remains in use by the
preschool and other classes as well.
Special art projects sometimes occupy
the kitchen, which has an island low
enough for young folks. In a walk-in
closet, each child is assigned a separate
“cubbie” for book bags and supplies.
Give the Gift of Prayer: BVM Prayer Association cards
are the ideal way to express prayerful sentiments for all
occasions—including graduates of Queen of All Saints
ES, according to Sr. Mary Lou Wetzell. To find out more
about the Prayer Association and to view the cards, visit
www.bvmcong.org/support_prayer.cfm.
Yearlong Activities
and Events
One striking omission in Mary Lou’s
rooms is the presence of a computer.
Although children surely use them at
home, research is mixed on the appropriateness of this medium for their
age level. Therefore, the emphasis is
on physical activity, such as dancing,
music and a weekly gym time. One
father volunteers for this task two days
a week and several mothers take turns
on the other days.
Special occasions dot the school
year. In addition to a Halloween parade
through the “big school” and the mandatory visit from Santa, Grandparents Day
is a highlight. Songs and snacks follow a
prayer service in the chapel. At an endof-the-year celebration each preschooler
is presented with a certificate complete
with school colors and a class picture.
Also at this time, the eighth-graders
return to Benedict Center for a “Walk
Down Memory Lane.” This year, after
the prayer service, they pored through
their preschool albums and played their
favorite tapes or CDs from 10 years ago.
Each year, Mary Lou sends BVM prayer
cards to the graduates she has taught—
more than half the class this year.
Faithful Volunteers
As she begins her sixteenth year at
Queen of All Saints, Mary Lou appreciates the advantages of her years there.
Many volunteers have shared their
time and talents with the preschoolers
for years. While volunteers may begin
a project with fervor, common knowledge dictates that they do not continue
unless their work is appreciated, their
time considered and their talent valued.
Here, Mary Lou’s philosophy is evident.
Not afraid to delegate, she espouses a
team concept; and the excitement she
h
herself
exudes invites helpers.
One long-term volunteer is the
“Library Grandma,” Barbara Carini.
S
Since
the time her oldest grandson
w is now a college student was in
who
preschool, Barbara has each month
supplied the story hour with a stack
of the latest books from the library.
Having a degree in library science, she
enjoys staying current with children’s
literature. Barbara, a graduate of BVM
schools Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculata and Mundelein College, has had
a grandchild in preschool every year
since the school’s beginning.
Another volunteer, Jill Kluisendorf,
has designed and produced end-of-the
year certificates since the preschool’s
opening. Jill’s oldest daughter, now a
Georgetown sophomore, was in Mary
Lou’s first class.
Signs of the Times
In the course of her time there,
Mary Lou has found little change in preschoolers—they’re still eager and enthusiastic. What has changed, however, are
the demands on the teacher. Post 9/11
security and child abuse scandals have
mandated additional safety measures.
All employees and volunteers must
undergo security checks, participate in
a half-day training program and continue with regular online updates.
Upon leaving Benedict Center, one
cannot help but reflect on the greeting
affixed to the door. A bestseller several
years ago quoted kindergarten rules as
a guide for life. Today, a positive mantra
to begin one’s education could be: “Kind
words, friendly deeds, happy thoughts
and love for you.” It would be hard to
find a better model for this than Mary
Lou Wetzell, BVM.
About the author: Margaret A. McGinn, BVM
(Daniel Anne) is on the faculty at Truman College, Chicago, Ill.
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
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Marian Hurley, BVM
Director of ALL Religious Education
by Maureen Sheehan, BVM
Marian Hurley, BVM (William Marie)
is known to many of us as a successful
elementary school teacher and principal, and more recently as the director of
religious education at Mother of Good
Counsel Parish in Los Angeles, Calif.
There are so many facets to this diminutive fountain of energy!
Briefs
About 20 years ago, Marian began volunteering at Alive and Well (now Wellness
Works) in Glendale, Calif. The holistic
approach to wellness led Marian to pursue
a second career as a massage therapist.
During her training and 500 hours of
supervised internship, Marian maintained
her full-time schedule at Mother of Good
Counsel: RCIA, adult education, programs
for parents preparing their children for
First Reconciliation and First Communion, Confirmation preparation for teens,
and children/youth religious education
programs for grades K-12.
It could be thought that Marian’s new
career as a massage therapist would take
her in a whole new direction. Not so! Marian is a pro at integration.
There are so many stories to be told
about Marian’s experiences in the healing
ministry of massage therapy. She has volunteered her time at a clinic in Pasadena
ministering to AIDS patients. She has spent
countless hours offering acupressure
to homeless women, and her gift of
healing to veterans returning from the
war zone. She has had the opportunity
to minister to those of every religious
and ethnic background. Marian is
often engaged in evangelization within
the RCIA at Mother of Good Counsel,
with the Buddhist veteran and the fundamentalist homeless person.
So many persons are relieved of
physical pain by Marian’s healing
therapy, making their emotional pain
more tolerable. Parents of children
preparing for sacraments are relieved
of guilt in their adult faith formation
by Marian’s gentle presence in their
personal faith development. The BVM
mission of “being freed and helping
others enjoy freedom in God’s steadfast love” is the embodiment of Marian’s ministry that continues each and
every day.
Marian was the BVM board member on CPAR (Collaborative Project for
Aging Religious), a Southern California
effort designed to assist religious congregations as they face the intricate
issues of aging members. Marian currently serves on the Board of Review
for sexual abuse cases involving men
in religious orders in Southern California. It is the role of this board to assist
the orders in bringing resolution to the
Donna Booth, BVM Associate, was
named the June Palo Verde (Arizona)
Showcase Artist. She is a self-taught
artist who improved her art knowledge
through various workshops and art
classes. Donna resides in Sun City, Ariz.,
and currently serves as program chairperson for Palo Verde Artists.
Mary Agnes Giblin, BVM (Julianne)
was recently recognized by the parishoners at St. Mary Parish, Iowa City,
Iowa, for 25 years as pastoral associate.
As part of their recognition, parishoners estimated that during her years of
service at the parish, she taught baptism
class for the parents of 1,325 babies, prepared 1,095
children for Sacraments of Reconciliation and First
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cases presented to them. In some cases
the accusations prove to be false. In
other cases the religious order must deal
with the member who is guilty.
Today, Marian is involved in many
kinds of healing from her office on the
first floor of Mother of Good Counsel
School. She is the unofficial counselor
to teachers, parents, maintenance staff
and children. She is always available as
a substitute teacher in the school for any
grade level. Because of her work with
sacrament programs for children in the
school and parish, she knows all the children quite well. They count on her for
that coveted Hershey bar on their birthdays, and they are always delighted to
assist Marian from her car to the office,
especially when she is escorting Sadie, a
golden Labrador puppy.
Recently, Marian appeared in a primary classroom to substitute for the
day. A small boy asked Marian, “Can
old ladies teach?” Within a few minutes,
his question was duly answered by
the master teacher/healer/counselor/
friend doing what she does best—gently
and joyfully sharing her talents with
anyone who is willing to question, to
wonder and to learn.
About the author: Maureen Sheehan, BVM
(Wenefride) is a pastoral associate at Sts. Simon
and Jude Parish in Huntington, Calif.
Communion, prepared 675 couples for the Sacrament of Marriage, conducted 900 wake services and
instructed 250 children for RCIC, in addition to the
countless hours spent visiting the sick and working
on parish committees.
Mary McCauley, BVM (Mercedie), former pastoral administrator for St. Bridget’s Parish, Postville, Iowa, was recently
selected by the Iowa Commission on the
Status of Women to receive the 2009
Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and
Justice. The award was presented to
Mary for her part in the aftermath of the 2008 Postville immigration raid at Agriprocessors meatpacking
plant. “When something like this [raid] happens, you
think only of your duty to the people in front of you,”
Mary said. “You move with your heart.”
Roberta White, BVM
Fostering Growth in Every Student
by Anne Kendall, BVM
people struggling to obtain an education. Roberta’s enthusiasm and genuine
interest serve her well in her quest to
have students persevere in the program
goal of trying to obtain a GED, or high
school diploma.
BVM Ministry Site
Grant Is the Catalyst
Roberta White, BVM (Caritas) befriends multicultural students who seek to obtain a high school
diploma in the midst of their busy lives.
A weekend finds Roberta Anne White,
BVM (Caritas) in the garden at Holy
Family Convent in Glendale, Calif.,
digging up weeds, watering, planting, and then arranging flowers that
she has picked. The convent is graced
with gorgeous, sweet-smelling roses,
or whatever flower is in bloom.
This is Roberta’s way of relaxing
after a week of teaching. It is also symbolic of her ministerial activities during
the week as she guides the learning of
students at the East Los Angeles Occupational Center, helping to bring to fruition educational opportunities.
Roberta’s ministerial life has taken
place primarily in Southern California from where she originally hails.
Within these works of God, she has
been teacher, religious education director, principal and she now works with
Someone might wonder how Roberta
became part of the public school system. It all began with a BVM ministry
site grant, in Hawthorne, Calif., in 1992.
Roberta was teaching at St. Joseph Parish in Hawthorne, where she saw the
need to empower the newly arriving
Hispanic immigrants.
At that point in BVM history, the
congregation was founding and funding new BVM ministry groups at sites
in poor areas where the ministry could
not be financed on the local level. Hawthorne was chosen as a place to implement the BVM core values of education,
justice, freedom and charity.
BVMs Catherine Gibbons (Rita
Eileen), Ethel Dignan (Howard) and
Mary Jean Ferry (St. Christopher)
joined Roberta in their outreach to assist
the people. Catherine worked in religious education, while Ethel and Mary
Jean started scripture-based communities to help people build leadership
skills and better their working conditions. Roberta’s specialty was to assist
people in learning English as a second
language (ESL). Since the people had
difficulty in getting to classes, Roberta
held sessions in garages, houses, and at
night in the parish grade school. One
day, a woman said to Roberta, “You
know, you can get paid for doing this.”
Thus, Roberta became part of the Centrella Valley School District, continuing
the same ESL work.
When the ministry site closed, and
the convent was put to use for other
purposes, Roberta’s ministry moved
to Puente Learning Center, a branch
of Roosevelt Adult School in East Los
Angeles, where students were working
for their GED. Subsequently, she moved
to her present position at East L.A.
Occupational Center.
Student Demographics
Are Diverse
Who are the students whom Roberta
teaches and how old are they? They
range in age from 15–65, with the majority in the 18–30 category. Most are
Hispanic from Mexico, El Salvador and
Guatemala. The occupational center
offers 36 high school and GED preparation classes. All work is individualized
on a contract basis. Roberta corrects the
work and assists the students one-on-one
if they do not understand the material.
Students receive grades, but nothing
below a C, because each assignment
must be reworked until the student can
at least obtain a minimum grade. Of
those who succeed in getting their GED,
many go on to community college.
The greatest challenge for the students with whom Roberta interacts is to
manage a job, and sometimes a young
family, while trying to get their diploma.
In Roberta, they find someone who is
warm, enthusiastic, supportive and passionate—and someone with whom they
immediately feel at home. She has a listening ear and is deeply spiritual.
Asked what makes her get up in the
morning, Roberta replied, “Every success is a failure turned around! Their
success helps them get jobs, which in
turn impact their family and financial
situation. It is critical for these people
to receive an education.” Who better
to help these young citizens take their
place in our ever-changing world than
someone with the attributes, motivation
and background of Roberta?
About the author: Anne Kendall, BVM (Robertine)
is one of four recently elected congregational
representatives. She resides in Glendale, Calif.
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BVM Peggy Nolan (Timothy Maura), is interviewed
by Clarke College students. Professor and BVM
Associate Norm Freund added the Memoir Project
to his class this fall.
The BVM
Memoir Project
by Mary Alma Sullivan, BVM
“I created the BVM Memoir Project
as part of a civic engagement/leadership course, because I wanted my
students to have the opportunity to be
transformed by the BVMs in the same
way that I have been transformed.”
By his own admission, Dan Vaillancourt was a brash, self-centered 23-yearold when he joined the philosophy
department at Mundelein College. After
18 years rubbing shoulders with BVMs
there, he concluded that he “was interested in one thing: to be of service to
people.” Out of this was born the BVM
Memoir Project.
Now a professor at Loyola University Chicago, Dan, in association with
his wife, Kathy, developed an aesthetics
course for the 2008 Fall semester, with
an interview/writing assignment at its
heart. Each enrolled student was interviewed before the course began about
the rigors of the memoir components.
BVMs at Wright Hall were elicited as
partners for the students.
Each sister, including others residing
near Loyola, began a series of private
meetings with her interviewer that
covered anything about her life and
ministry as a BVM. Students made hard
copies of computer notes and wrote preliminary drafts of what would become
the sister’s memoir, a story focused on
one or more events in her life. At every
step of the way, the BVM monitored
what would be part of the final piece.
Though accolades for the encounters with BVMs were uniformly positive, students were impacted by this
project and the personal contact with
the sisters in unique ways. One learned
that “wisdom is born of experience.”
Another mentioned the “life lesson” she
learned as the world of the religious and
their service was “demystified.” Another
was strengthened in her plan to “teach
students from low income families
in Catholic schools.” One young man
began reconciliation with his father.
Based on course evaluations, Dan
said, “I believe the course was wildly
successful” in achieving the “longlasting transformative experiences”
effected through BVMs. Many BVM participants agree.
About the author: Mary Alma Sullivan, BVM
(Robert Emmett) is an emerita professor of communication from Loyola University and longtime
faculty member at Mundelein College prior to the
Loyola appointment. Academic interests embraced
creative writing and literature, cinema studies and
U.S. popular culture.
Sister Profile: Jeanelle Bergen, BVM
S
by Mary Alma Sullivan, BVM
“I was actually teaching fourth graders at St. Dorothy’s School in Chicago
when I was changed in 1942 to the theatre department at Mundelein College.”
That move across town altered
Sister Mary Jeanelle Bergen’s life radically. “Summers and every other available time out of the college classroom
meant study, study, study,” Jeanelle
continued, “to prepare myself for a
future in college teaching.” Initially, she
was assigned to teach speech courses.
“In the course of time, I taught acting,
directing and stagecraft, and directed
students in numerous productions.”
Though only a few theatre department graduates went on to craft work
in professional ranks, many chose to
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become teachers of drama themselves.
“That was very gratifying, because the
most important thing to me was connecting and being a mentor to those I taught.
Happily, I have stayed in touch with a
good many of them through the years.”
When asked, Jeanelle couldn’t
choose a favorite from among all those
plays she directed through her 40 years
at Mundelein, but indicated special
fondness for the production of Antigone
by Sophocles. “We wanted costumes
incorporating Greek armor for the
actors, so one theatre major volunteered
to take on the job, using cans provided
by the local gas station. Her research,
design and execution of this apparel
was excellent—and she was rewarded
with course credit for her work.”
All learning has merit, but what
preparation did a major in theatre contribute to meeting life’s challenges in
the future? “It seems to me,” Jeanelle
responded, “that those who committed
to the program—most of our graduates, I think—learned self-assurance. It
was also impossible not to discover the
value of inventiveness and creativity
in preparing for a stage role, directing
actors or attending to other features
that create a performance.” She added,
“No matter what life held for grads,
these elements are important.”
Jeanelle retired from teaching in
1984, volunteered for over a decade
in the Gannon Center Archives, and
now resides at the Mt. Carmel campus of the Sisters of Charity, BVM in
Dubuque, Iowa.
About the author: Mary Alma Sullivan, BVM is an
emerita professor of communication from Loyola
University and longtime faculty member at Mundelein College prior to the Loyola appointment.
Academic interests embraced creative writing and
literature, cinema studies and U.S. popular culture.
Sister
S
ister o
on the Hill:
Dolores Doohan, BVM
by Jean Byrne, BVM
Perhaps teachers are born, not
made, or conversely, made so completely that teaching becomes an integral part of their being. Either way, one
of those has to be Dolores Doohan, BVM
(Sarah James), who retired to Mt. Carmel in Dubuque not too long ago.
Dolores, a BVM for 62 years, completed her novitiate formation and then
taught elementary classes in several
states, concluding her teaching career
in the Pacific Northwest. When she
retired from the classroom eight years
ago she began the tutoring phase of her
career, a phase, she says, that will continue as long as she is physically able
and can maintain the rapport with her
charges that is essential. It is certainly
present at this time.
Since Dolores has been in Dubuque,
she has tutored at St. Mark’s Community Center in an afterschool program
BOOK
REVIEW
and at a nearby public school. She then
contacted a local parochial school, St.
Columbkille, and offered her services.
Principal Barb Roling was happy to
accept the offer of an experienced
teacher as tutor. The sessions are for
K-4 pupils, whose teachers recommend
them and provide lessons to strengthen
the areas the students need.
So, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1:00-3:00 will find Dolores
at St. Columbkille Elementary School
with candidates for assistance. Joan Redden, BVM (James Irene) serves as her
chauffeur on Thursday and, of course,
wouldn’t think of just waiting so Joan
tutors as well. At present, in addition to
reading, the kindergarteners are practicing their counting to 100. Sometimes
one of them draws a blank along the
way and needs a hint to get on with it,
but it is coming along. The biggest math
hurdles for some of the older pupils are
multiplication tables, as they have been
for many learners over the years.
Probably one of Dolores’s most
heart-wrenching experiences in the
past was that of the first-grade girl who
pleaded with her, “Help me! Help me!”
The child knew she wasn’t keeping up
with her class and that the challenge of
future grades would make it worse, but
that school system did not allow students to be retained.
Often in such cases it seems as if
the child is almost doomed to fall farther and farther behind and quite pos-
sibly drop out later, preferring to quit
of her own volition than helplessly face
the humiliation of failure.
It isn’t possible to give all the help
needed to all students whose learning
problems have so many sources, but
the dedication and caring hard work of
tutors does make a difference. Every
once in a while, someone who has been
struggling suddenly breaks through the
barriers to learning and that is a reason
for great rejoicing.
Regardless if this happens, one thing
is certain, and it hinges on Dolores’s
dedication to students. It is the concept
of perseverance that she obviously has
practiced in the 60 years as a BVM and
as a teacher. In fact, this was the theme
of an article published about her retirement in the Dec. 7, 2007, edition of The
Oregonian, the Portland daily newspaper.
The theme of perseverance is
further shown in her tutoring skills.
Often a child in difficulty doesn’t know
how to cope with the apparent lack
of understanding and feels alone and
bewildered. Being exposed to the loving one-on-one concern of an adult who
won’t give up will stay in the child’s
memory even if the pesky multiplication tables didn’t.
The tutor knows that, and it is
enough.
About the author: Jean Byrne, BVM (Jean
Francis) is a researcher in the BVM Center’s
Archives Office, in Dubuque, Iowa.
Born in Chicago: A History of Chicago’s Jesuit University
by Frances Loretta Berger, BVM
In Born in Chicago: A History of Chicago’s Jesuit University, author Ellen Skerrett, a specialist in the history
of Catholic life in Chicago, presents a fabulous picture
of the Jesuit contribution to education and spiritual
development in Holy Family Parish.
The Sisters of Charity, BVM play an important role in
Skerrett’s book as well. She tells the story of overcoming hard times, of cooperation and of appreciation, while she weaves the details of people’s lives
and events together into one enticing volume.
Skerrett relates the stories of BVMs who were pivotal in
creating history at both Mundelein and Loyola. Agatha
Hurley, BVM, with a group of sisters, opened St. Aloysius School to 800 girls in 1867. Mother Isabella (Mary
Kane) was one of the first students at St. Aloysius
and entered the BVM community in 1870. A woman
of many talents, she was responsible for establishing 33 schools that were ministered by BVMs and the
construction of Immaculata High School and Mundelein College. Mary Justitia Coffey, BVM was the first
president of Mundelein College and the first principal
of Immaculata High School. Other BVMs highlighted in
the book are Mary Griffin, formerly Sister Mary Ignatia,
Carol Frances Jegen and Carolyn Farrell.
Without a doubt, Skerrett’s visual expression of
growth and success at Loyola University, as well as
Mundelein College, will engross the reader during an
exciting tour of this colorful, historical work.
About the author: Frances Loretta Berger, BVM resides at the
Mount Carmel Motherhouse, Dubuque, Iowa and volunteers
in the library.
FA L L T W O T H O U S A N D N I N E
19
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WINC
Sisters of Charity, BVM
1100 Carmel Drive
Dubuque, Iowa 52003-7991
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Jubilarian
Celebrations
Congratulations to the 21
BVMs who celebrated 25,
50 or 75 years in religious
life this summer:
Diamond Jubilarians (l. to r.): Cordelle Coté, Grace
Andrea Carolan, Virginia Healy (Richardette); (top):
Carol Bartlett; (bottom): Mary Ann Shea.
Silver Jubilarians (l. to r.): Patricia Bombard, LaDonna
Manternach and Paulette Skiba.
Jubilee Celebrations on the Website
Golden Jubilarians (front row, l. to r.): Mary Ann Zollmann (Clement Mary), Sheila Doherty
(Paula Mary), Deanna Marie Carr (Bernita), M Lynn Lester (Ann Joseph); (middle row, l.
to r.) Mary Jo Keane (Martin Mary), Anne Buckley (St. Edwin), Thea O’Meara, Theresa
Kramps (Amelia); (back row, l. to r.) Rose Marie Lorentzen (St. Carol), Mary Elizabeth
Galt (Andrew), Rose Mary Meyer (Sebastian), Barbara Gaul (Charles Mary) and Anne
Kendall (Robertine).
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View photo albums of the jubilee celebrations at
www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_album.cfm.
Send congratulatory messages Jubilarians at
www.bvmcong.org/whatsnew_jubs.cfm.