Verbum Dei High School Participates in Arrupe Leaders Summit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2013
www.www.ignatiansolidarity.net
Contact: Christopher Kerr, Executive Director
O – 216-397-2088
[email protected]

“Verbum Dei High School Participates in Arrupe Leaders Summit”

Verbum Dei High School students and faculty joined seven other schools at the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Arrupe Leaders Summit from January 18-20, 2013.  The Arrupe Leadership Summit invited emerging student leaders for social justice to spend a weekend strengthening their capacity to effect positive social change while deepening their understanding of the relationship between faith and justice emphasized in the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Throughout the three-day program, students explored The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders through the lens of Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J.’s life.  Arrupe, a former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, is known for his strong leadership of the Jesuits during a tumultuous period in global history and a time of great transition for the Catholic Church and the Jesuits.  In addition, the program included opportunities for faculty mentors to discuss student leadership for social justice and the Ignatian education pedagogical model.

Additional schools who attended the Summit are: Bellarmine College Preparatory (San Jose, CA), Jesuit High School (Sacramento, CA), Loyola Academy, Mercy High School (Burlingame, CA), Notre Dame High School (San Jose, CA), Regis Jesuit High School (Denver, CA), and St. Ignatius College Preparatory (San Francisco).

ISN program director, Kim Miller, reflected on the program’s intentions by saying, “ISN is committed to developing emerging leaders for solidarity and justice.  Fr. Arrupe provides a strong example of leadership for social justice grounded in strong Christian faith.  I am excited for all Verbum Dei High School students will do with their new skills and sense of empowerment.”

The Summit was led by a diverse team of facilitators that began planning in the fall.  The leadership team was comprised of: Adam Baber, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Canisius High School and doctoral candidate at Stanford University; Mark Potter, assistant for social and international ministries at the California Province of the Society of Jesus; and Natalie Terry, a graduate of John Carroll University current graduate student at the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.

Julia Dowd, director of university ministry at University of San Francisco, offered the closing keynote address to the group on Sunday morning and the faculty sessions were led by Christopher Kerr, executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network.

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The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) promotes leadership and advocacy among students, alumni, and other emerging leaders from Jesuit schools, parishes, and ministries by educating its members on social justice issues; by mobilizing a national network to address those issues; and by encouraging a life-long commitment to the “service of faith and the promotion of justice.”  ISN is an independent 501c3 non-profit organization.  Additional information can be found at: www.www.ignatiansolidarity.net