What influenced you to take on the role of Committee on Community and Belonging Chair?

“This is my fourteenth year at Sacred Heart Greenwich and my second year as the Committee on Community and Belonging Chair.  But after more than a decade as a Sacred Heart Educator, I sought a new way to contribute to our school.  I am committed to diverse stories and recognizing or reclaiming dignity for all parts of life; thus, this Committee and its work is vital to me.  As a Literature teacher, too, I know first-hand that anyone who is a reader and writer is interested in others’ voices and visions. Unsurprisingly, literature, like all art, galvanizes empathy, giving glimpses into sundry real and fictional lives.  On that note, I’ve always wanted to help others feel seen, understood, and heard – as all teachers do.  As someone who has had moments when I’ve felt silenced and overlooked, I strive to reverse that experience for others.  At core, people seek engagement with a community that respects and supports them.  One of Sacred Heart’s greatest gifts is its community, its respect for the whole person, and its Goals and Criteria.  Goal IV asks us to commit ourselves to educate to the building of community as a Christian value, but this is also a human value.  We are nowhere and no one without one another.  Lives are enriched when their intricate threads are strengthened within the weave of others’ lives.  This Committee is about making that sturdy, transformational weft.”

What do you hope to accomplish as the Committee on Community and Belonging Chair?

“Building awareness of the wealth of experiences, backgrounds, cultures, languages, and knowledge is central to what I strive to accomplish as Committee on Community and Belonging Chair.  I hope our school life feels always burgeoning with fresh ideas, events that allow for questions and new experiences, and ways to grow together—whether it is after listening to a guest speaker from Pine Ridge, learning about students’ favorite family meals during a Diversity Club Potluck, or experiencing the soulful and reflective moments of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Service.  Daily classroom discussions, readings, and activities should also feel diverse in their content and presentation.  All community members should feel seen, with a chance to showcase their gifts, expertise, and interests.  Above all, our school’s commitment to Goal IV, as with its other Goals, should feel unwavering.”

How does your new role help you further connect with the Sacred Heart community and become closer with students?

“Over the past couple of years, I have been fortunate to be something of a thread-gatherer.  I am the liaison among various groups, from educators to parents to students.  I’ve collaborated with the Living Our Mission and One Heart teams, the Board of Trustees, all three Division Heads, President Baber and our Associate Heads of School, and students.  I have enjoyed leading or attending different events, from Heritage Month planning sessions to Diversity Club luncheons, to art presentations, and being able to meet students I do not teach and teachers in other Divisions I’d not know well otherwise.  Even if I’m watching or hearing a student I’ve taught as she takes charge in a meeting or makes a presentation, I get to see a side of her outside the classroom, the side engaged with life beyond traditional academics.  Sometimes, a quieter English student is a club’s bellwether presence. Sometimes, the classroom leader is the willing team-player when organizing an event.  These are all ways in which I’ve been blessed to see how distinctive, well-rounded, and encouraging our students are and continue to be.  On the other hand, students get to see me as more than just the English teacher, the Advisor, or that educator always encouraging creative writing submissions for Perspectives and Scholastic Writing Awards.  The more we see how multifaceted we all are, the less we will fall into the trap of presuming anyone’s life is merely a single story.  There is where stereotypes and atrophied thinking threaten our sense of humanity.  I am glad to be a witness of our students’ whole growth and to see colleagues contribute their knowledge in ways beyond the classroom—as well as to help organize opportunities that encourage such moments.”

The King Street Chronicle thanks Dr. Cristina Baptista for her contributions to “Humans of Sacred Heart.”