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Academics
One School, One Story
A major Teaching & Learning Goal in our Strategic Plan is to “seize upon meaningful interdisciplinary connections…to enhance student engagement.” Based on recent educational research & data, the criteria that has the most positive impact on student engagement are student choice, personal relevance, the student-teacher relationship, and connections to the real world outside the classroom.
One initiative we launched during the 2017-18 school year to build in those criteria while cultivating meaningful interdisciplinary connections was a new approach to Summer Reading. One School, One Story (OSOS) is a program whereby community members submit suggestions for books for the entire school to read together over the summer. This year, we aimed to make the process even more student-directed. Our Director of Library Services, Mrs. Ashley Rivers, invited students to join the One School, One Story Student Committee to generate the initial list of books for the voting bracket. The OSOS Student Committee discussed options, reviewed the books with one another, and developed the "Sweet 16 Summer Reading Bracket."
Overwhelmingly, the students wanted to select books that would generate reflection and discussion on topics and issues that are of interest and importance to them as students. As you will see from the list of books chosen, that includes issues such as school shootings, political uprisings, and environmental activism. We are proud that our students want to engage in meaningful classroom, school-wide, and community discussions about powerful topics that have real-world and personal relevance for them. We are also committed to engaging in those discussions with sensitivity and always through the lens of our Catholic teachings on Social Justice and our Values of compassion, dignity, justice, excellence, and integrity.
Curious about the options? You can read about the books in this year’s Sweet 16 Summer Reading Bracket here:
| MATCH UP #1 |
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The 57 Bus
by Dashka Slater
If it weren’t for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. But one afternoon, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.
An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny
by Laura Schroff
This inspirational New York Times bestseller chronicles the lifelong friendship between a busy sales executive and a disadvantaged young boy, and how both of their lives were changed by what began as one small gesture of kindness.
| MATCH UP #2 |
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The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II by Gregory A. Freeman
In 1944 the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped and sheltered for months by villagers behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia. Classified for over half a century for political reasons, this is the full account of Operation Halyard, a story of loyalty, selfsacrifice, and bravery
Violent Ends
by Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal Shusterman, Brendan Shusterman, Beth Revis, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Courtney Summers, Kendare Blake, Delilah S. Dawson, Steve Brezenoff, Tom Leveen, Hannah Moskowitz, Blythe Woolston, Trish Doller, Mindi Scott, Margie Gelbwasser, Christine Johnson, E. M. Kokie, Elisa Nader
In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers come together to share the viewpoints of a group of students affected by a school shooting.
| MATCH UP #3 |
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The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story
by Hyeonseo Lee
An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture and guide her family to freedom.
When I Was Puerto Rican
by Esmeralda Santiago
One of "The Best Memoirs of a Generation" (Oprah's Book Club): a young woman's journey from the mango groves and barrios of Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, and eventually on to Harvard.
| MATCH UP #4 |
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How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child
by Sandra Uwiringiyimana and Abigail Pesta
This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree
by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and Viviana Mazza
Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival.
| MATCH UP #5 |
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Exodus
by Julie Bertagna
Less than a hundred years from now, the world as we know it no longer exists. Set in a dystopian future ravaged by global warming, the novel follows the heroic journey of a displaced young woman and her search for a new home.
Red Rising
by Pierce Brown
Set on a terraformed Mars, this dystopian tale follows lowborn miner Darrow as he infiltrates the ranks of the elite Golds. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class.
| MATCH UP #6 |
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Darius the Great is Not Okay
by Adib Khorram
Darius doesn’t think he’ll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life.
One of Us is Lying
by Karen M. McManus
One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
| MATCH UP #7 |
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All American Boys
by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.
Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
From bestselling author Fredrik Backman comes a profound novel about a small town with big hockey dreams, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain.
The goals of the One School, One Story school-wide initiative are to:
- increase student engagement by emphasizing student voice and choice
- develop opportunities for interdisciplinary learning in and outside the classroom
- cultivate opportunities for larger community-wide conversations on relevant topics & issues
- enhance our already strong sense of community by providing a way for students to immediately connect with their peers, teachers, and staff
- set students up for academic success by honing essential cross-curricular skills of empathy, critical reading, and textual analysis
Thank you to Mrs. Ashley Rivers and our One School, One Story Student Committee.
| 2019 OSOS STUDENT COMMITTEE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sarah Vargas ‘19 |
Kendall Fields ‘21 |
Julia Villanueva ‘21 |
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James D'Atri ‘20 |
Maryjane Lopez ‘21 |
Emma Wilson ‘21 | |
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Jessie Hayano ‘20 |
Olivia Robinson ‘21 |
Sophia Wright ‘21 |
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Alexus Malabanan ‘20 |
Larissa Siswanto ‘21 |
Dominic Brown ‘22 | |
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Crystal Sanrow ‘20 |
Katharine Terbush ‘21 |
Nathan Fruman ‘22 |
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| voting dates |
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Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Final Round
Feb. 04 - Feb. 15
Feb. 19 - Mar. 01
Mar. 04 - Mar. 15
Mar. 18 - Apr. 05
Documents & Forms
Students, faculty, & staff vote during the open windows for each round, with Round 1 starting February 4, 2019. By April 8, we will have a winner! Faculty will then read the winning novel and spend in-service time in the spring brainstorming innovative approaches to interdisciplinary discussions, activities, and community outreach involving the major themes of the novel.
We are excited about the additional opportunities to connect with community organizations and engage in school-wide discussions in the fall of 2019. We invite and encourage parents to join in and read the winning book as well this summer, though parents will not be voting in the selection process.
This initiative is just one way that we seek to carry on the legacy of the Pioneering Sisters of Providence, charting our own unique path as we strive to respond to the signs of the times for our students here at Providence High School. Go Pioneers!