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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.

Thank you to Mrs. Ashley Rivers and our One School, One Story Student Committee.