Alumnae Chapel

We welcomed Gwyn Fisher, class of 1996 today. Gwyn is the executive director of MPact Memphis an organization tasked with engaging and empowering the local young, professional community to make a difference in Memphis. Gwyn's journey has taken her around the world and "back home," and she shared her passion for making Memphis the kind of city that we'd all be glad to come home to ...

St. Mary's Community Fund

For our second chapel sponsored by the SMCF, Barbara King director the Exchange Club joined our community. Mrs. King (a mother of two alumnae) spoke about the work of the Exchange Club to interrupt the cycle of abuse in families. She expressed her gratitude for the money given by the SMCF on behalf of the whole St. Mary's community.

This was also the day to kick-off the "Stuff and Name the Turkey" fundraiser. A mock-Glee television show inspired the girls to be a part of this wonderful annual event!

Musical Chapel

We were treated to four gifted performances today in chapel. Three of the pieces were played by pairs of sisters no less! The St. Mary's community is blessed to overflowing with talent in all fields. What a treasure to share these talents with our school community.

LifeBlood

Our second outside speaker of the week: through the work of the Latin Club, we welcomed Shelley Sumner from LifeBlood to share about the literally life-giving work of our local blood bank. She challenged the girls to understand the need through a variety of "stand up if you ..." questions. Seeing the need played out (hypothetically) in our own community certainly brought the message home that we all can be heroes and we all should be donors.

The SMES Blood drive is on November 11. Won't you consider giving? You can save four lives, and the need is real.

Americorps

Thanks to the invitation of the tenth grade, whose focus is on environmental issues, the SMES community heard from a representative of Americorps. After watching a short video about the work and mission of this amazing organization, a young woman shared her personal, transforming experience of spending several months working all over the southeast. She told us about the work she had done and what it had meant to her life, and she also took a few questions from the crowd. We all caught a glimpse into this world of service to our country.

Operation Smile

We heard from an Upper School student and member of the St. Mary's Service Organization about Operation Smile, a global organization offering surgeries to children for the treatment of cleft palate and cleft lip. She spoke movingly of how she first became aware of the work being done, and how she pursued an opportunity for her own involvement as a student. After sharing the history of the organization, she challenged all of us to consider how we might support this group and their work.

Student Council Guest Chapel

Our Student Council Vice President kicked of the first SC Guest Chapel by inviting Dr. Fred Johnson to speak. Dr. Johnson has a long and distinguished career in education, particularly in Shelby County Schools. After remarking that he predicted a future US president to be sitting in our ranks, Dr. Johnson spoke passionately about the building blocks of a good society: respect, compassion, ingenuity, among others.
Acknowledging previous generations failures, he inspired and challenged us to accomplish no less than world peace. What a gift to hear from someone with a storied career and a passion for the future of our community.

Why Serve?

Head of School, Marlene Shaw challenged the MS and US students to consider what they "get" from giving.

"If you are like me, you wonder what can you do? How can I make a difference? Will my small contribution make any difference when others give so much? Most of our questions are about what we are doing for those we are helping. How we are going to make a difference in their lives.
Today----let’s think about community service differently? How will it make a difference in your life? Are you willing to learn something valuable from your service and reflect upon it? In fact, Service to others actually serves us. Service learning helps us as the volunteers to learn about ourselves."

Mrs. Shaw went on to recount a vivid encounter with a 20th century pioneer ...
"The evening I met Margaret Mead, she stood on stage and talked for an hour—smart, witty, and full of life, she was a gifted educator who cared deeply for humanity---all of humanity. When she finished her remarks, a man in the audience challenged her saying, “It sounds like you are asking us to love and care for each other---to be our brother’s keeper so to speak.”
Without hesitation, Margaret Mead in a strong voice replied. “Yes, Absolutely. You are to love and care for your brother---your sister---your neighbor, and every living creator that God has created.” Everyone in that room was silent listening to her words and moved by her passion. We knew we had just witnessed a truly special event. That night Margaret Mead went on to encourage us to engage in service to others because they need our help, but in fact, she encouraged us because she said that service would make us better people. That we would learn valuable lessons in service to others."

Race for the Cure

St. Mary's is celebrating a record fifteen years of record-breaking participation in the Race for the Cure with a "Sweet 16" challenge to do it again!  This morning in chapel, we heard the personal story of how the St. Mary's community rallied around one senior student's family two years ago as they faced her mother's diagnosis with breast cancer.  She thanked her class and the whole school for being her companions during a painful time: offering her hugs, shoulders, casseroles, and Christmas decorations when she and her family needed their support most.  What a blessing that her mother was with us to hear her tell the story.
SMS Race coordinators invited everyone present to stand up if she or someone she knew had been touched by breast cancer.  Our hope is that our work now means that someday these Chapel talks won't be necessary.  Sweet Sixteen - sign up and race for the cause, the cure, and the future!

St. Mary's Community Fund

For the first of several Community Fund Chapels, we welcomed Ms. Angela White of Agape Ministries.  Angela thanked the St. Mary's students and supporters for the grant Agape received last year, and she explained to the MS and US audience some of the work made possible by the gift.  Telling us the story of one woman and her children who came to Agape, Angela revealed the multi-layered work that is done by their organization: pre-natal care, residential treatment, life-skills training, child care and child assessment. 
Her commitment to this meaningful work shone through her words, and her gratitude to St. Mary's was sincere.  Ms. White left us with a challenge to remember those whom it would be easy to forget and an invitation to work even more closely with Agape in the future.

Community Service Trip

With pictures and stories, the thirteen girls who participated in this past summer's service trip to the Gulf Coast told the Middle and Upper School students all about their adventure. Working with Habitat for Humanity and Americorps volunteers, the students helped with the construction of two houses near Mobile, Alabama. From their telling, it seems that lessons about laminate flooring and grout went hand-in-hand with lessons about sweat equity and the gift of time to a greater cause.

Opening Chapel

Here are a few words from Mrs. Shaw's opening address ...

This morning, you are sitting in a sacred place. As you sit in the Church of the Holy Communion during St. Mary’s opening chapel service, you begin your school year with all the opportunities a sacred place can provide. If you are to gain from those opportunities that are waiting for you here, you have to come to chapel—respectful, reverent, and willing to be open to the experience. And what an experience it can be—to sing and worship together, to hear from priests and rabbis, and to hear seniors share their senior chapel talks and learn more about them. Chapel can be a time of quiet reflection and meditation during a hectic school day. Chapel can be a time of joy and laughter.

At St. Mary’s, we have chapel everyday for good reason. We have chapel everyday because we value faith and reason for all, whatever our individual faith might be. Chapel is a time for personal reflection and for shared moments when we can celebrate our differences and learn from them. Our chapel calls for reflection, reverence, and respect. This chapel reflects the St. Mary’s community. In fact, it is the St. Mary’s community.