Mount Notre Dame High School’s MAP program creates empowered young women
At Mount Notre Dame High School (MND), an all-girls Catholic high school based in Reading, education is about more than being college ready. Founded in 1860 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, the school has always been guided by its foundress, St. Julie Billiart, who said, “Teach them what they need to know for life.”
However, in the early 2000s, the school decided to do more to help students. This led to the creation of the My Action Plan, or MAP, program.
“It’s our four-year mission-driven program to empower our students,” says Christine Mencer, MND Spanish teacher and MAP coordinator. “We wanted to figure out a way to help our students connect more to our mission.”
The school identified nine characteristics that it wanted its students to graduate with, such being a pursuer of lifelong learning, valuing difference and leading while serving.
MND then tailored the program to help students build upon these traits. It starts freshmen year when students are introduced to the program and given a MAP guide—a teacher that can answer questions from the student and her family before and after the school year starts.
“Every student has a guidance counselor,” says Mencer. “But this is just another way to connect and help the students connect.”
Sophomore year, students learn to connect the empowerment characteristics with what they learn in class. In religion class, the students will study the bible and create a belief motto. They’ll then take that motto into U.S history class and connect that motto to a historic person. Finally, in English class, they give a presentation on that person and their connection to the students’ motto.
“They’re living our mission—living with beliefs and principles,” adds Mencer.
In their junior year, students learn about leadership. “They have a lot of different opportunities to hear from female leaders, to think about themselves as a leader and what characteristics they have,” says Mencer.
Senior year is when all these lessons come together for their capstone project. Each student must partner with a nonprofit agency and plan a project or series of activities that connects to both the student’s passion and the nonprofit’s mission.
At the end of their senior year, students each give a presentation on their experience and what they’ve learned to school officials and representatives of nonprofit agencies.
“It’s amazing to see them stand up in front of people that they don’t know… and they start talking about what they did and that passion for what they did,” says Mencer.
For her project, Riley Brown, a senior at MND, joined the team at Tikkun Farm in Mt. Healthy to help with their family farm learning and volunteer days.
“I learned how to strengthen my leadership skills,” says Brown. “Working alongside a variety of people definitely broadened my horizons in the realm of service because I was able to connect with so many unique people from different paths of life all in equally meaningful ways and listen to their own stories”
In addition, Brown feels like she has gained a lot from the MAP program as a whole. “I loved how each year we were able to set goals in different areas such as academic, student development and spiritual because I found that kept me organized and driven to accomplish more than just good grades within the classroom, helping me grow into a more well-rounded student,” she says.
