News

(Chamberlain, S.D.) – On October 14, St. Joseph’s Indian School and Native Hope staff led female students in grades 6-12^th grade through an educational opportunity on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and the Red Sand Project. The event brought awareness and provided information on protective factors around sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is prevalent in South Dakota, and Native American women and children are disproportionately at risk.

Photos provided by Archbishop Shaw High School

“English class is an opportunity for students’ voices to be heard,” stated Joe Crowley, an ACE 26 teacher at Archbishop Shaw High School in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“That is really important, and I think the only way students experience that is to have a teacher who is willing to journey with them.” 

(Chamberlain, S.D.) – On October 12, St. Joseph’s Indian School students celebrated Native American Day across campus. The day opened with a beautiful Four Directions prayer service video created by the Mission Integration team and students. The service is on the sjiskids.org web page on the spiritual and cultural resources page. Such moments of prayer are one way St. Joseph’s Indian School students learn their culture and spirituality, two pillars that support healthy well-being throughout life.

The Latino Educator and Administrator Development (LEAD) program aims to strengthen the Latino voice in both the classroom and school level nationally. LEAD’s inaugural cohort continues to learn ways to better understand the opportunities and challenges that exist as Latino leaders in their schools. 

An important aspect of the LEAD program is the mentorship that each LEADer receives on a monthly basis from a Latino mentor currently in a leadership role in Catholic education. Each month, LEADers join other members of their team, including a LEAD mentor, on a conference call to focus on a wide variety of themes related to Latino leadership in Catholic education. 

Throughout the year, the CSA team will highlight various members of this inaugural LEAD cohort—both LEADers and mentors—beginning with Israel “Buddy” Martinez, principal of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School in McAllen, TX, member of the eighth cohort of the Latino Enrollment Institute (LEI), and LEAD mentor. 

Mary Frances "Frankie" Jones serves on the faculty of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, as well as the Coordinator for Teaching and Learning for the Notre Dame ACE Academies. 

We live in a time when many feel broken and hopeless. For Catholic educators who believe every child is made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore made for greatness, resignation is not an option. In the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program, we cannot submit to despair; we are compelled to act.