Little Flower Celebrates Unity Day!

UNITY DAYS – APRIL 14 AND APRIL 15, 2021

 
Over the course of the 2020-21 School Year, the Little Flower Administrative Team pushed hard to infuse the central principles of Social Emotional Learning Theory to aid in supporting students in the unusual situation faced by the school community during the hybrid learning model. Little Flower, who celebrates its 81st year this year, has long been a beacon of diversity, but like many schools, has come face to face with the social disharmony that has been part of the cultural fabric during the last year.
 
Student leaders emerged to lead their Little Flower Sisters through a series of student-led programs called ‘Unity Days’ that culminated on Wednesday, April 14 and Thursday, April 15. Students trained under Dr. Krista Leh, from Thom Stecher Associates, a national leader in the Social Emotional learning space, recognizing that if the whole child isn’t feeling comfortable and secure, learning is not happening.
 
Students trained with Dr. Leh on a monthly basis, as part of our “Supporting our Sisters” effort to expose the wider student body to a wide range of discussion on topics like Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Mindfulness, Career Readiness, and Trauma-Informed Care. These sessions were handled virtually, with special focus on building up the Unity Day Leaders to help them to develop programming for the culminating Unity Days.
 
As we completed our Unity Days, the student leaders are focused on discussion on the following points:
 

• Embracing the Full Value Contract for Effective Discussions
• Words Matter
• Challenging Bias and Barriers
• Understanding Microaggressions

 
On the heels of those topics, Little Flower fan favorite, Bill Monaghan, led the students in a prayer service before the school held a celebratory karaoke event. This effort was divided into 2 days because of the A/B Hybrid, so each day included an additional 80 students, with each event bringing a ‘train the trainer’ approach. The goal is that all students will be trained in the Unity Day concept and will use this as a building block for better communication and elevated expectations for a fuller student experience going forward.
 
Little Flower was also proud to welcome Fox 29's Bob Kelly as he completed a live Kelly's Classroom segment during our second Unity Day period on April 15.
 

In case you missed it, please click the link below to view the segment in its entirety:
Kelly's Classroom Link
 Click here!