This past October, twelve students embarked on a cross country flight to the Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice in Washington DC.
The Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice was created in 1997 to honor the martyrs of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) who, along with their companions, were killed in El Salvador in 1989.
The students attending the trip were selected through as application process last spring and have been preparing to represent Prep amongst the other Jesuit schools attending since fall. In preparation, students led by Ms. Miller and Ms. Campbell created mission statements, discussed what they wanted to take away from the conference, and decided what sights they wanted to see in DC.
The group was gone for five days, with an itinerary filled with the conference and exploring the city. On the first day students started with taking the metro to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and ended with Prep Alumni showing them around Georgetown University.
Current Prep sophomore, Emerson King described her time as the museum as “…an eye-opening experience to why I live the life I do today. The museum was informational and powerful. “
Along with visiting and seeing Georgetown, students were able to go the Smithsonian American Art Museum, visit the White House and walk around the monuments before the conference started. On Friday, they met with students from other high schools in the Jesuits West Province at a mixer and discussed why they were there, including social issues they were most passionate about. Here, Prep students were given their first taste of the conference and able to converse with like-minded peers.
King thoroughly enjoyed talking with the other students, and noted, “There’s so much preparation and learning you can do independently, but there’s nothing like meeting the other students and talking about things you’re passionate about.”
Midafternoon on Saturday, the conference officially started. Prep along with thousands of other Jesuits partook in opening prayer, listened to the Peace Poets, a group dedicated to performing justice inspired slam poetry.
Monique Trusclair Maddox, the keynote speaker spoke about her experience learning about how her ancestors were enslaved by the Jesuits. Maddox discussed how she reconciled the fact the Church she supported her whole life could have hurt her family.
Later, in breakout sessions, students were able to learn about various social justice issues. King attended sessions led by professors and professionals detailing gun violence, along with the Israel Palestine Conflict and the Ukraine War.
The breakout session focusing on gun violence particularly struck King which was led by a victim of gun violence and two anti-gun advocates. “I’ve heard about shooting and anti-gun laws, but I’ve never been in a room with three people whose life purpose is to stop gun violence. In a span of one hour, I learned more about gun violence, the causes and the effects then I had known in my entire life.”
Participants were also able to attend student-led sessions and speeches where other high school students discussed the work they were doing for justice in their own lives and schools. Subjects included the power of AI, the climate crisis, immigration and inequities in the healthcare system.
The conference wrapped up on Sunday with keynote speaker Ellie Hidalgo talking about her experiences being a woman in power in the church. The weekend ended with a conference wide mass were the students, teachers all prayed with the martyrs in mind.
King described the mass as a “..perfect end to the weekend. After hearing about so many touching and important subjects, it was nice to center myself and be at peace alongside everyone.”
Prep students went to explore a new city, meet new people learn about social justice issues and they did just that. Students, as King described, left with an “…inspiration to go out and help advocate for a better world.”
