August 28, 2018 | SEND NEWS ITEMS TO: mesa@sistersofmercy.org

Welcome, New Mercy Administrators

We welcome our new administrators to Mercy and to MESA! Heads of Ministry

• Yvette Samuels Brown, Alpha Primary - Kingston, Jamaica • Rita Duenas, Bishop Baumgartner Memorial Catholic School -

Sinajana, Guam • Valencia Honeyghan, Mount St. Joseph Preparatory School -

Mandeville, Jamaica • Sister Carolyn Krohn, RSM (interim), Mercy High School - San

Francisco, California

• Sister Christine McCann, RSM (interim), Merion Mercy Academy - Merion Station, Pennsylvania

• Susan Morrissey, Mercymount Country Day School - Cumberland, Rhode Island

• David Perry, Cristo Rey Sacramento High School - Sacramento, California

• Sister Pat Prinzing, RSM (interim), Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women - Rochester, New York

• Patty Ragio, Mercy McAuley High School - Cincinnati, Ohio • O'neil Stevens, Jessie Ripoll Primary School - Kingston, Jamaica

Assistant Heads of Ministry

• Christian Aument, Mercy Career and Technical High School - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Sandra Betters, Our Lady of Mercy Academy - Syosset, New York • Connie Kampschmidt, Mercy McAuley - Cincinnati, Ohio • Martin Kilbridgev, Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women -

Rochester, New York • Jenafer Naswadi, Walsingham Academy (Lower School) -

Williamsburg, Virginia • Sarah Peace, Mercy Academy - Louisville, Kentucky • Tom Rinke, Mercyhurst Preparatory School - Erie, Pennsylvania • Kristi Wessling, Mercy High School - Omaha, Nebraska

MESA Staff Facilitate Charism Workshops in Jamaica

Sisters Lisa Griffith and Regina Ward are in Jamaica throughout this week to facilitate charism workshops for faculties and staff from eight education ministries -- Mount St. Joseph Preparatory School, Mount St. Joseph Catholic High School, St. John Bosco Career Advancement Institute, Jessie Ripoll Primary School (our featured school in this week's issue of Flash!), Alpha Primary School, Alpha Infant School, Alpha Institute, and Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha) -- as well as Alpha Dental Clinic and the Sisters of Mercy Business Office. Sisters Lisa and Regina look forward to sharing more photos and details of their experience in the next issue of MESA Flash. Pictured above are participants at the St. John Bosco workshop.

Send Your Mercy Day Greeting

to Mercy International

It's just over a month today till Mercy Day! For many years, Mercy ministries and communities from across the globe have sent in their Mercy Day greetings for posting on the mercyworld.org website. These are widely read and greatly appreciated. Mercy International invites all MESA schools to send in a greeting. Greetings can include a text and image (if desired) and should be sent to mercyenews@mercyinternational.ie by September 21 to make sure they are published for Mercy Day. Greetings will be posted as they are received.

Additionally, Mercy Day materials from Mercy International Association are available online. You are invited to use this prayer service to follow along with a live-streamed Mercy Day program at Mercy International Centre, or adapt it for use in your schools and classes.

Mercy Students, Faithful Citizens

This year, National Voter Registration Day in the United States is September 25. As stated in the USCCB's Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, "as Catholics we are called to participate in public life in a manner consistent with the mission of our Lord, a mission that he has called us to share." In accordance with MESA's mission to nurture "highly competent and deeply compassionate leaders ready to serve a vulnerable world," we encourage faculty in our education ministries to talk about voting with students. Many high school seniors will be eligible to vote in the November elections, and for younger students, educators have the opportunity to build a strong foundation for future civic engagement. We recommend the following resources:

• Full text of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (Spanish available here)

• Forming Consciences Resources, including lesson plans for elementary, junior high and high school students in English and Spanish

• Info about National Voter Registration Day • For high school students: Inspire U.S.

How do you encourage civic engagement at your school? Email us at mesa@sistersofmercy.org. Photo: buschap

Remember in Prayer

Sister Michelle Carroll, First Principal of Mercy High School in Baltimore

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Michelle Carroll, who died August 23, 2018, at Mercy Convent in Savannah, Georgia. A Sister of Mercy for 73 years, she was 96 years old. A Florida native, Sister Michelle received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and education from Florida State University. Before entering the Sisters of Mercy, she worked as a chemist in the citrus industry. Upon taking her perpetual vows in 1950, Sister Michelle began a long ministry in education, teaching chemistry at Mount St. Agnes High School in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1954, she

became principal of St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah and served in that position for six years. Sister Michelle earned a master’s degree in education from Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland) in 1958 and, two years later, became the first principal of Mercy High School in Baltimore. It soon became one of the premier schools in the Baltimore Diocese under her leadership. Later, Sister Michelle served in Community leadership and in 1973 became provincial of the Baltimore Province of the Sisters of Mercy. In 1979, she began 29 years of ministry in health care and was named vice president of what became St. Joseph’s Health System in Atlanta.

She had lived at Mercy Convent in Savannah since 2006. We invite you to read more about Sister Michelle's life and ministry in this message from Mercy High School.

Reminder: Celebrate the Season of Creation

From September 1 to October 4, Christians around the world unite for the Season of Creation to pray and care for Earth. In response to Pope Francis' call to hear the cry of Earth and the poor, the MESA family is invited to celebrate the Season of Creation as an expression of our Mercy Critical Concern for Earth. Mercy International Association (MIA) has several resources and images you may find helpful, including the calendar pictured above which features daily suggestions for embracing the Season of Creation. Find the calendar and other resources here. Other resources are available from the Season of Creation website in English and in Spanish.

Registration due September 18 for Mercy Education Conference

The 2018 Mercy Education Conference will take place October 11-13, 2018. Visit this page for more details, and click here to register. This conference brochure contains further information, schedule and links to the registration forms. Please make sure that you and all of your attendees are registered for both the conference and the hotel (if needed) before September 18.

School Profile

Jessie Ripoll Primary School

We continue our series of school profiles with Jessie Ripoll Primary School in Kingston, Jamaica.

Jessie Ripoll Primary School serves students in grades first through fifth. The school opened in 1979. Originally named Alpha Primary 11, the name was changed to honor Sister of Mercy Justina "Jessie" Ripoll. Read more about the history of the school. The school's motto is "Ever to Excel," manifested in many academic programs, clubs and sports. Jessie Ripoll Primary School prides itself on total development of the student.

The mission of the Jessie Ripoll Primary School is to create an atmosphere that will encourage the continuous growth of each member of our school community. The vision statement states that the school will provide a sound educational foundation that will foster growth in numeracy and science, promote positive values and attitudes and develop students to become innovative, creative, responsible and creative thinkers.

Students at Jessie Ripoll excel academically. The school boasts outstanding performance on standardized testing. Students have also been honored for the Jamaican Information Service Heritage Essay Competition. The school also displays excellence in sports and performing arts, including various categories of dance, music, football, netball and chess, to name a few. Learn more about these accomplishments!

Good News & Great Opportunities

• Read the latest newsletter from the Institute Justice Team with updates on Mercy's work to address the Critical Concerns. Pictured above: Mercy Associates Shiela Kielly and Sheila Geraghty participate in a Families Belong Together Rally in Marshalltown, Iowa.

• Use this form from the Institute Justice Team to express your concern about the Affordable Clean Energy Rule and urge Congress to take action on the threats of climate change.

• Take the One-Day Mindfulness Challenge: Sister Leslie Porreca invites us to be mindful about the products we consume, create, make or purchase.

• Today's Catholic Teacher magazine is seeking ideas on how to celebrate Lent and Easter in your classroom and/or school. You can submit ideas to: todayct.us/GreatIdeas.

Updated Job Listings

• Head of School - Merion Mercy Academy - Merion Station, Pennsylvania

• Principal / Head of School - Mercy High School - Burlingame, California

• Special Events and Communication Coordinator - Mount Mercy Academy - Buffalo, New York

• President - CEO - Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women - Rochester, New York

• Faculty, English - Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women - Rochester, New York

• Director of Work Study and Business Development - Cristo Rey High School - Sacramento, California

• Director of Communications and Marketing - Mount St. Mary Academy - Little Rock, Arkansas

Please send your job listings to mesa@sistersofmercy.org. We will run employment notices in MESA Flash for two weeks only. After that, you'll find older listings on our Ministry Openings web page. That page contains links to the employment pages of MESA schools.

Annual Administrator Meeting October 11, 2018 King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Mercy 2018 Education Conference Hosted by Merion Mercy Academy October 12-13, 2018 King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Leadership Forum February 28, 2019 Atlanta, Georgia

We encourage you to send in information for MESA Flash. We'd love to share your good news and

photos from your schools, along with tips and practical suggestions. Email us at mesa@sistersofmercy.org.

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