Collaboration Day Two: Educators forming Graduates

Everyone came back! Since the educators from Leopards Hill School and the other local Jesuit schools returned for a second day, we were even more confident that the Spirit was working and people were excited about our conversations.

The task for the morning was to introduce some Jesuit terms. A quiz: How many of these could you define?

·      Magis

·      Contemplatives in Action

·      Discernment

·      First Principle and Foundation

·      Men and Women for Others

·      Cura Personalis

·      Freedom and Detachment

·      Servant Leadership

·      Finding God in All Things

·      Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam

Each member of our team prepared two of these topics for “Speaking Ignatian” lightning rounds. Participants could choose from among these topics to learn more about in a quick introduction to the theme. Many groups were able to compare their topics to experiences they have already had in their lives, and even this week.

We returned to the topic of the Graduate and Graduation, inviting faculty to work together to draft five characteristics that they wanted to draw out of their students. The consensus was “Loving”, “Hard-working” “God-respecting” “Innovative” and “Knowledgeable”.  It was a privilege to listen to their conversations about goals for their students, and about difficult questions in their community such as how to be inclusive of all faiths in a Catholic environment.

How does one play a role at forming the Graduate at Graduation? By being an excellent educator. For that reason, we moved on to shaping a “Profile of an Educator”, challenging the faculty to consider what it takes to be an exemplary teacher at Leopards Hill Jesuit Secondary School.

A moving moment for the BC High team came during the discussion of the Profile of the Educator, when we described the extraordinary life and career of Sheila Becker-Gailius. Her model of teaching had an impact on many of us and we were honored to share her story with team from LHS.

A highlight of the afternoon was a visit from the Fr. Emmanuel Mumba, SJ, Provincial of the Zambia-Malawi province. At the end of the day he addressed the group and expressed his hope that the energy at our workshop would continue in the local schools.

In the evening we were dinner guests at the Jesuit house in Lusaka. Because many Jesuits are lecturers at the University of Zambia, their house is right across the street and is also home to the Jesuit curia and Provincial’s office. In addition to the two scholastics who work at the school, Edson and Mark, we had dinner with three other Jesuits who hail from Ireland and America. One of them came to Zambia more than fifty years ago to do his regency – “just for two years.”

They have a magnificent garden in the back, with vegetation that is green year round and countless vegetables and flowers. We had an up close view of kumquaats, passionfruit, and papaya, as well as thick bamboo stalks growing as tall as the largest evergreen in the northeast. A few of us considered giving up future summer breaks and coming back to work in their garden!