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Home to Network for Mercy Education Mercy Secondary Education Association
History Continued - 1986 - 1991
The 1986 conference was significant because it focused the entire program on the future: Mercy Secondary Education: 2001: Where Do We Want To Be? The workshops as well as the keynote presentations provided opportunities to look toward the future. Significant
events took place at Conference
VI, 1987,
in Clarkson, Michigan. Terms
of members of the first Executive Board were completed.
Sister Carol E. Wheeler and members of the Executive Board were
recognized for their great and generous contribution in establishing MSEA.
There was no doubt at this time that infancy years were moving toward
maturity for the organization. In
her address to the assembly, Sister Carol Wheeler challenged members of MSEA to
the conviction that: “We, as educators in the Mercy tradition, have something
exceptional to offer in education at this time,” and “the quality of
education we offer could be strengthened by greater collaboration among our
schools, by thinking of our schools and the teachers in them as
‘connectors,’ by being mindful of what is happening in our world - of
significant currents, trends, movements, realities” - and “by addressing
these issues directly and/or have our awareness of them inform the way we
educate.” Carol also called attention to “the fact that more and more the
future of the Mercy tradition in secondary education will depend on the lay
colleagues of the Sisters of Mercy - most of whom are in Mercy schools because
they value the tradition.” Also
significant to the conference was an excellent panel of lay colleagues who
described “Sharing Mercy” to the assembly.
There was indeed an air of enthusiasm and energy as the lay colleagues
shared their convictions of Mercy's charism and traditions. A
report was given by a committee chaired by Sister Corinne Raven (Chicago) on
developing a model for a national office. It
was clear that this was simply a beginning, as well as a shared hope for the
future. Election of officers took
place: Sister Amy Bayley became the second president of MSEA. The
theme of Conference
VlI, 1988 in Louisville,
Kentucky was Mercy Schools In Transition.
The program varied in format from the previous conferences.
It provided a keynote address, followed by two different tracks: “Creating an Invitational Image (External Affairs)” and “Creating an
Invitational Environment (Internal Affairs).” During
the business meeting, the Executive Board explained that a Mercy Experience Task
Force had been formed. The task
force was charged with “offering options for addressing the need for immediate
and long range programming to assist local educational settings in the
understanding and integration of the Mercy charism and tradition.”
(At this writing, the work of this task force continues.) Also,
at the business meeting, members were asked to identify what would be considered
the “most important move, thing, action that MSEA needs to attend to right
now.” These issues were then
addressed by the Executive Board. The
two of greatest significance were the work of the Mercy Experience Task Force
and the creation of a Task Force on Institute Proposal for Mercy Secondary
Education. (The work of this task
force is described later in this history.) At
the 1988 conference, Sister Virginia Bertschi (Scranton) was chosen as
President-Elect. Mercy
Education In the Context of the Church
was the theme of the 1989
Conference VIII in
Washington, DC. The keynote
address, “The American Catholic
Church and Education” set the
tone for discussions around implications for Catholic secondary education and
the future as well as for discussion around Mercy education values and practical
experiences. The
business meeting included major reports from both the Mercy Experience Task
Force and the Institute Proposal for Mercy Secondary Education Task Force.
An excellent slide presentation “Sharing the Mercy Charism” was
presented by Sister Corinne Raven, principal of Mother McAuley High School in
Chicago, as part of the Mercy Experience Task Force report. During
these formative years of MSEA, membership has consisted of administrators of
Mercy secondary schools, congregational leadership, and individual membership. The number attending the conferences is usually around 110
persons. There has been a strong
thrust by the members of the Executive Board to encourage all Mercy secondary
schools to become an active part of the organization. Participation
in the conferences to some extent has been dependent on the time and place of
the meetings. As already stated,
lay presence has most certainly enhanced participation at the conferences.
The support of leadership of congregations and provinces has also been
encouraged and appreciated. The energies of the members of the Executive Board have
always been received with much gratitude by members of MSEA. This
history would not be complete without mentioning other significant
accomplishments: 1
We have been proud that a number of Mercy secondary schools have received
national recognition by being named Exemplary Private Schools by the US
Department of Education and the Council for American Private Education. 2.
In 1985 a monograph, “Some Lasting Efforts: Mercy Tradition and Secondary
Education” by Sister Helen Marie Bums, was published.
Sister Helen Marie made this presentation at the 1985 conference. It received wide publicity.
Board members, faculty, and parents have read this monograph and learned
much about Catherine's charism to educate the young. 3.
In 1989 a video was produced: “A Message from Baggot Street – Mercy Values
in Education.” The video was
produced in collaboration with Mercy College of Detroit.
It was financially supported through the Mercy Administrative Team, Mercy
Center, Washington, and Mercy College of Detroit.
The video was presented initially at the 1989 conference and has been
purchased by a significant number of our secondary schools and by congregations
and provinces. From this brief history it is evident that the challenges set forth by Sister Carol Wheeler in 1987 continue to be with the membership of MSEA: “Let us indeed continue the conversation with great diligence and care.” By Sister Judith Heberle, RSM (Rochester)
Conference
IX, 1990,
was held in Erie, PA and hosted by Mercyhurst Preparatory School.
Global
Education:
A
Call to Think and Be in New Ways
provided members an opportunity to reflect on the New Cosmology—to
reflect on the 46 “signs of our times.”
The keynoter, Jane Blewett, Director of Earth Community Center challenged
members at the conference to understand that “there is not a future for our
map of the national states unless there is a future for the earth itself.” Workshops
continued the theme of the conference: “Curriculum for the New World,”
“Conflict Resolution,” “Mercy Vocational Education” and “Exploring
Possibilities: International Baccalaureate and Summer Experimental Education for
Kids (SEEK).” At the business meeting two major presentations were made and unanimously accepted by the group culminating the visions and dreams which had been started as early as 1983: 1.
The proposal presented by the Institute Education Task Force was unanimously
accepted stating: “The Mercy Education Association proposes that the Institute
of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas establish a structure designed to
provide an official relationship among the Mercy secondary schools within the
Institute for the purpose of the continuing development of secondary education
in the Mercy tradition.” 2.
Values that educators in the Mercy tradition held in common were overwhelmingly
affirmed. Mary
McCarthy, RSM (Hartford) was chosen as President-Elect.
Conference
X, 1991,
was a celebration of 10 years of
MSEA and was held at Mother McAuley High School in Chicago.
The theme Caring, Charism and
Commitment provided for
presentations given by Amy Hoey, RSM, Institute Councilor and Mary Brian
Costello, RSM, (Chicago) a long time friend and member of MSEA. “Charism,
A Gift to be Given”
- Amy Hoey's presentation
was timely since the Institute had been founded in July, 1991.
The Mercy Secondary Education Association proposal had been passed on to
the Institute Leadership Team. The
Direction Statement was certainly a challenge to Mercy educators. Mary
Brian Costello, RSM, presented “A
School with Soul” which
addressed from the perspective of education, values, and spirituality: “What
constitutes the soul of your school?” Break
out sessions addressed “Hospitality,” “Compassion,” “Mission
Effectiveness,” “Mercy Student Leadership” and “Making Connections:
Teaching and the Human Brain.” The
business meeting included three major reports; an update on the disposition of
the MSEA Institute Proposal which had been forwarded to the Institute Leadership
Team; progress on the Leadership Development Program and a report of the
Development Workshop which was held for 40 members of MSEA prior to the opening
of Conference X. Network for Mercy Education - Home |
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