Nazareth Academy Students Attend Inaugural Leadership Conference

Submitted by Nazareth Academy.

Nazareth Academy, together with our CSJ sister schools, St. Joseph’s Academy Baton Rouge and Saint Joseph Academy Cleveland, participated in the first CSJ/SSJ Student Leadership Conference.

Thirty students from the three schools, plus ten from Mount St. Joseph in Philadelphia, gathered on the campus of Chestnut Hill, an SSJ College in Pennsylvania, June 11-15, to learn more about the history, mission and charism of the Congregation of St. Joseph.

“It is our hope and desire to bring the core and heart of the CSJ mission to our students and to the climate and culture of Nazareth. Deeply engaging some of our school leaders in this experience is a great way to do this. At the same time we launched new ways of connecting to other high schools who have the same goal and purpose,” said Principal Deborah Tracy.

The inaugural group of Nazareth students included the Class of 2016’s Matt Berger, Angela Calabria, Sam McLachlan and Jack Weyer, as well as the Class of 2017’s Ben Ernest, Roberto Irigoyen, Liam Kennedy, Meghan King, Meghan McGarry and Maya Vondrasek.

“I was really intrigued by the idea of meeting students from the other CSJ/SSJ schools,” said Liam Kennedy. “As soon as we began talking, we found out that all of our schools had a lot in common. It was really cool to see that we were all pretty similar even though we were from different parts of the country.”

Since the other schools are all single gender, Liam was one of only 6 male students at the Conference.

According to Nazareth teacher, Ms. Kate Augustyn, the gender discrepancy was never a big issue.

“These students were excellent choices for the inaugural group. They approached each activity seriously and conscientiously; they also brought the fun! I loved seeing how outgoing they were and how willing they were to engage with students whom they had never met before.”

The conference began on Thursday with an introduction, prayer and dinner. On Friday, participants took a tour of the college and motherhouse and learned more about the Sisters’ history. Sister Phyllis DiFuccia presented the charism in a large group intro, followed by four break-out sessions, each led by one of the schools: leadership, relationship, service and care for the Earth.

The group watched “Selma” and reflected upon the commonalities between great leaders of our time and the passion, dedication, energy and vision necessary to see a dream through to fruition.

Angela Calabria ’16 has participated in other student leadership conferences, “but never one that incorporated the CSJ mission. I learned that leadership is demonstrated through action not empty words or commands.”

Saturday the group spent the day in service in Camden, New Jersey, one of the very poorest cities in the state. Students cleaned up a park and made dinner for a homeless shelter. Meghan McGarry was struck by the colorful art on the boarded up windows and walls of abandoned buildings. The paintings had positive messages such as “Peace in Camden” and “Love is God.”

“It was truly inspiring that in a community with such poverty, drug use and violence, they could still spread joy and beauty,” she said.

Students also watched/participated in a Little League parade, witnessing the importance of having organized activity for youth. They listened to personal testimonies from people addicted to drugs and/or alcohol who currently are being helped through a place called The Last Stop.”

“It was in helping those in need and expecting nothing in return that the Congregation’s charism of ‘the dear neighbor’ was truly lived out,” said Angela.

Maya Vondrasek agreed, adding that this trip helped change her assumptions about people living in poor neighborhoods, “Getting to hear the individual stories helped tie into the Sisters’ saying to ‘love without distinction.’ You should never judge and assume you know a person before you even get to know them.”

Sunday brought the conference to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, followed by some site-seeing in downtown Philadelphia. The Conference concluded with reflection and ideas about how this experience could be brought back, in some way, to each individual school.

“I think that everyone who went on the trip learned a lot from the other schools. I am very excited to see how this trip changes Naz for the better,” said Liam.

Some ideas the group brought back include videos, environmental initiatives and new definitions of leadership. The trip gave Nazareth students the opportunity to connect with students as well as with their own classmates.

According to Meghan King, “The bonding among the Nazareth students will be a wonderful memory for me. It was fun hanging out with them outside a school setting.”

The success of this first conference points to a great future. According to Mrs. Tracy, “It is our hope to make this an annual opportunity, switching the host site to different CSJ/SSJ colleges in the United States and adding an additional high school each time.”