A blessing often flows in both directions. That’s the case with a partnership between Shepherd Community Academy and Providence Cristo Rey High School that benefits students from both institutions.
For the past three school years, students from Providence have served at Shepherd in a work-study program that helps the high school students gain practical experience and enables Shepherd students to interact with teens who’ve navigated many of the challenges they encounter.
“Because they come from similar demographic backgrounds, the Providence students seem to have a strong understanding of the issues our students face,” Bethany Morford, Shepherd’s chief education officer, said. “Because of this and their maturity – we are an elementary school, and our students don’t always have the vocabulary or maturity that is needed to express their perspectives clearly – our Providence students can often provide helpful insights into student struggles and challenges.”
This school year, three students from Providence – Aidan, Doug and Journey – are working one day each week at Shepherd. Workdays usually last five to six hours, and the students serve as teacher’s aides and help with administrative tasks at Shepherd Community Academy and at Shepherd Community Early Learning Scholars, the ministry’s childcare center.
“The Providence students become a part of the Shepherd family,” Morford said. “When we become aware of situations they are facing, we work with Providence to provide them with the same wraparound supports we provide for our neighbors.”
Morford said the relationships built among the Providence students and the Shepherd team don’t end with the school year. Encouragement and support continue beyond the work-study program.
In one of those full circle moments that God blesses us with, Nicholas Furnari, director of Strategic Initiatives at Shepherd, spent time last school year mentoring a Providence freshman who served at Shepherd Community Academy.
Furnari, a graduate of Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Methuen, Mass., served in the work-study program as a student.
“During those teenage years of working with and for ‘fancy’ businesspeople in my work-study job, I never imagined that someday the roles would be reversed,” Furnari wrote on his LinkedIn page. “But God’s plan for us is mysterious and loving. Today was a perfect example of that.”
