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By Aidan Reedy Regina Dominican High School Communications Coordinator
March 3, 2017, Wilmette, Illinois – Regina Dominican High School’s Leadership Institute recently hosted a panel discussion on “Executive Orders and the Travel Ban: Separating Fact from Fiction.”
Panel members were Professor Ann M. Lousin, a constitutional law expert from The John Marshall Law School; Regina Dominican chaplain Father Peter Wojcik; and Noor Abdelfattah ’15, a Loyola University psychology major researching anxiety in youth. Dr. Linda A. Liang, Director of the Leadership Institute, moderated the discussion.
Professor Lousin explained constitutional law and details of the recent travel ban as well as similar bans in U.S. history. Father Wojcik spoke about Catholic Charities’ work in resettling a large number of refugees, adding that he prays a ban like this current one is not necessary. Dr. Liang mentioned strategies for civil discourse and Noor spoke to the students about handling stress and anxiety through writing and meditation. Students were then able to ask questions.
Dr. Liang provided a handout to students with a simple "LEARN" model that they could follow when anticipating a difficult conversation, or one in which emotions can run high:
Listen to the other's point of view without judgment.
Empathize with the other person.
Ask questions. Get the facts.
Reach understanding.
Neutralize feelings and emotions, or agree to disagree.
Grounded in the Dominican value of veritas (truth) and caritas (love), Regina Dominican’s Leadership Institute focuses on the students’ strengths to listen, inspire, and empower others to be the best that they can be and to make a difference in the world. Students initiated this panel in response to recent political events. It provided a unique educational opportunity to apply the lessons from textbooks on history and contemporary issues to life.
Feature photo: Panelists Noor Abdelfattah (left) and Professor Ann M. Lousin discuss the travel ban. Photo by Aidan Reedy
Reprinted with permission from the February 26, 2017, Panther Parent e-newsletter.
By Sister Mary Jean Williams, OP
September 14, 2016, Wilmette, Illinois – During the Back to School Liturgy on September 1, the Regina Dominican High School community commissioned student Dominican Preachers.
Father Peter Wojcik asked the assembly to extend their hands toward the Dominican Preachers, who offer reflections during school liturgies and prayer services and take leadership in promoting the Dominican heritage and spirituality to the school community. as he read the prayer of blessing:
“Loving God, source of all wisdom and knowledge, we ask you to bless and guide these young women as they offer themselves in a special service to the school community as Dominican Preachers,” Father Wojcik prayed. “Strengthen them with your gifts, that they may preach by word and example the truth that comes from you. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ and through the intercession of St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena.”
The Dominican Preachers promised with the help of God, St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena to live the Dominican pillars of prayer, study, and community in their words and actions.
Rachel Lucas, Olivia Janickas, Lauren Murphy, and Kirby Weiland had attended the Annual Dominican High Schools Preaching Conference, held June 24-29, 2016, at Siena Heights University in Adrian. The conference focuses on teaching students from more than 30 Dominican high schools various ways to preach through their lives. The new student preachers were amazed that so many Adrian Dominican Sisters whom they met at the conference had either attended or ministered at Regina Dominican.
Emma Dunderdale, Kaitlin Clancy, Grace Tamisiea, and Margaret McNaughton had attended the 2015 Dominican High Schools Preaching Conference and continue their role as student Dominican preachers.