CHAPEL TALKS : JERRY JELLIG
119 years ago the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur opened their doors to mission appropriate students in East Cincinnati, and the literal and symbolic center of the campus was the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel. In the intervening years it has hosted weddings and funerals, First Communions and Confirmations, public celebrations and private intentions. In 2008 we bring great honor to their tradition and our Sacred Purpose by initiating Chapel Talks. The program was created by Upper School faculty, staff and students alike, and stemmed from a few core beliefs. First, oral communication is primal in importance, perhaps never more so as we have diluted human interaction in a digital age. Second, there can be no growth without inquiry and reflection. And lastly, we are a community seeking to know each other more fully- what Sister Teresita calls right relationships- and that goal can best be achieved with God’s presence in our Chapel.
As part of a rigorous and exploratory four year public speaking experience known as SOLEIL, Chapel Talks are a senior experience that will soon serve as a rite of passage for all Summit graduates. Though voluntary this first year, many students have asked to address their community and deliver a talk. The act of standing before the Upper School faculty, student body, and invited guests, well in excess of 400 people, with only your most personal reflections is itself a challenging and worthwhile exercise. To then deliver a candid address on a single or set of searing experiences that has made you the person you are and the person you seek to be is at once cathartic and invigorating. We’ve heard students share stories about how the Holocaust, a book, a disease, boxing, art, and journalism have forever affected their lives and lenses. In each case relationships were at the core of the experience, which is perfectly Summit.
SOLEIL is an even broader endeavor and exactly the sort of experience afforded students fortunate enough to attend a well-sized school with personal attention. Students spend four years delivering similar addresses on a smaller scale and practicing the art of communication. They are paired with an advisor for their senior address who works closely with them in honing their message and delivering it with the appropriate tone and tenor. That faculty member introduces the student and their topic, and here again we see a Summit distinctive- the forming of right relationships.
Our classical education is now and must always be one of academic rigor and spiritual depth, where leaders of character are formed by a loving community. Chapel Talks is the latest, but not final extension of that promise. Teachers and students were sent to Boston and Cleveland to help them develop our program, and major upgrades were made to our Chapel and sound system to make these and all Chapel events more meaningful. Gifts made this possible and I thank our many benefactors who have decided that this matters- an investment in these children and faith forming education is what we are called to do and in so doing we change lives, including our own.
Jerry Jellig
