By Margaret Gaughan

It’s Maryknoll magazine day in Sister Peggy Martin’s 11th grade religion class at Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers, N.Y., and from the lively discussion around an article in the latest issue of the magazine, it is obvious the students are taking mission to heart. They are reflecting on how a Maryknoll volunteer helped at-risk Brazilian youth grow in self-esteem and non-violent living.

“Are there any vulnerable people here in New York?” Martin asks her students. “How can you help them? How can you turn a negative environment into a positive one?”

 

Responses range from listening to schoolmates’ problems to becoming a role model of peace for younger children. Some students, like Clinton Canastra, suggest modifying their own behavior. “The stories in Maryknoll magazine are teaching me to channel my anger into something good,” he says.

Classmate Patrick Murphy says reading about vulnerable people overseas makes him thankful for the love he has received and anxious to share it. “I want to go to my less fortunate friends and invite them into my world,” he says.

The seeds of mission are planted! That, says Martin, a Dominican Sister of Blauvelt, N.Y., is a primary benefit of the Maryknoll Magazine Classroom Program, which provides—free of charge—a monthly copy of Maryknoll magazine for each student and a poster and lesson plan offering the teacher questions and activities to stimulate discussion on one story or theme in the issue.

“Young people are very idealistic and want to serve. Maryknoll magazine shows them how by introducing them to people who do what Jesus did—helping people in need,” says Martin. “I emphasize that you can do that overseas or right here in our own school.” Using the program in all six of her high school religion classes once or twice a month, Martin has discovered it to be more than a welcome break from the textbook. “It takes students into the real world,” she says, adding that students from other countries further enrich discussion.

Sacred Heart is one of 2,250 U.S. schools that have chosen to bring this mission education program to some 130,000 students across the country. Designed almost 10 years ago for use in middle school and high school, the program is steadily growing with the addition last year of a K–5 component in which younger students are given a copy of Maryknoll magazine to peruse and bring home to their parents. The lesson plan takes a story in the issue for the teacher to present through age-appropriate language and activities. Stephanie Schuler uses it with her third-graders at St. Catherine School in Seattle, WA.

“Maryknoll magazine is a great classroom resource for many reasons,” says Schuler. “The photography is stunning and attracts the children’s attention. It reinforces our Catholic identity by showing practical applications of the facts the students are learning in religion class.” The magazine, she adds, is a valuable teaching tool for other subject areas as well, including social studies. “Africa is one of the regions we study,” she explains, “and Maryknoll magazine is really helpful in illustrating what life is like in many parts of Africa.”

But the most important lesson from Maryknoll, Schuler says, is reminding us that we are all brothers and sisters throughout the world. Her class is putting that lesson into action by pooling their pennies for the people Maryknoll missioners serve in the world’s poorest areas.

Promoting such solidarity is the backbone of mission education and the reason Maryknoll is committed to the Maryknoll Magazine Classroom Program, says Father Edward Dougherty, Superior General of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. “Maryknoll was founded to invite the American Church into mission,” he says. “Mission education has always been one of our top priorities. The Maryknoll Magazine Classroom Program and Explore Mission with Revista Maryknoll program continue that tradition. We rely on the generosity of our benefactors to enable us to offer these programs free of charge so that no school or parish will be prohibited from receiving them. I hope the enthusiasm of our younger folks will complement the faithfulness of our longtime supporters in helping us spread the mission message.”

Students like those at Sacred Heart High School are living proof the message is taking root. Eleventh-grader Itoro Udo says, “I’m Nigerian and I love learning about other countries. I asked Sister Peggy how old y

ou have to be to join Maryknoll. It must be great to go to other countries and help people. I’m looking into that.”Closer to home, her classmate Michelle Muzzio is already spreading the word. “I often read articles in Maryknoll magazine besides the ones that we are assigned,” she says. “When my mom asked me what I was reading, I told her about Maryknoll and how it’s all about people who go to different countries and do something more to help. One day I caught my mom reading Maryknoll magazine.”  To see a video of the High School Classroom Program in action, click here. For video of the Elementary School Classroom Program in action click here.