Community/Student Leaders

Core Value #1 Community: "Give up what I want, for what we need."

Families are gifts, community is built. We are a community. 

Young people need as many opportunities as possible, both in class and outside, to build a positive self-image and sense of competence. Participation in a community will have a lot to do with your sons and daughters being successful at the Academy, in high school, and beyond, which is why parents need to respect their student’s expectations in the Academy. This is an adjustment for many families. “Give up what you want for what we need,” is tied to lifelong lessons of learning to commit, follow through with your group, extracurricular activity or academic endeavor, and belong to a community that is bigger than yourself.  The way a student behaves and what their expectations are in the home is their role as family members, but as community members, we may have different expectations.  Young people learn that we are responsible for and accountable to, each other.

We live with our shortfalls. Just as a team member may score the most points in a game and still lose, it is a team effort. Students learn “What hurts my brother or sister, hurts me. What helps my brother or sister, helps me.” The clearest example of this is our daily, student-led Convocation.
 

“I was struck by the pride and sense of community that the students have in the school, which reinforced the decision that my husband and I have made the correct choice by enrolling [our son] into OLMC.”  --Current OLMC parent

Convocation or “Convo” as it is called by most students is the Academy’s daily meeting during which all students, faculty, and staff gather as a community at the beginning of the day to pray and truly be present with one another. Convo enables students, in particular, to build intention and accountability for every student in their group. To that end, attendance is taken, and students are expected to know the whereabouts of everyone in their group.

Parents, as essential members of our community and all alumni, have an open invitation to join us at Convocation. No need to RSVP, just show up!  Please sign into the building at the reception desk.

Some of the students’ favorite aspects of student-lead Convocation:

•Get Moving – Students lead others in games, and we play positive, popular music to wake us up!
• Student-led Daily Catholic Prayer – The same morning prayer of the universal Catholic Church is shared.
•“Shout Out Wednesday” – Students “shout out” another student for a good deed or encouragement.
•“Don’t bottle it up!” – Prayer intentions.
•Sit in Groups and Sing!
•Community Announcements and Concerns  - Students keep the community updated on club meetings, OLMC sports scores, and much more.
•Daily Affirmation – Students lead the entire community in a daily affirmation where they turn to one another and say an affirmation that begins with, “I love you…” and ends with “Let’s be Warriors, today! Go and Conquer!”


Core Value #2 Service: "Never Do For A Student, What they Can Do For Themselves

Students, not teachers, take charge and complete many of the chores in the building. At OLMC we proudly say, “We are Mount Carmel!” This means we are responsible for the Academy’s appearance as well as our own personal appearances.

Many other school parents and teachers have asked, “How do you get your students to do this?” Simple! Never do for students what they can do for themselves. Adolescents are capable of far more than they are usually given credit for. By age 12, your sons and daughters can do their laundry, figure out lunch if they forgot it at home, pack for an overnight camping trip, be on time to school, and assume a host of other responsibilities that foster independence and competence. In fact, doing too much for your children, when they are more than capable, undercuts them and sends a message of mistrust.

Education is about the production of agency, and giving students responsibility empowers them and communicates to them that we trust them.

“How can I get my daughter to do this at my house?”  --A Visitor to OLMC 

This is a defining part of an OLMC education. We are committed to the belief that when students are given responsibility and the freedom to make decisions, they can and they will. Therefore, students are empowered to make significant decisions in the operation of the Academy. Students belong to one of several groups in the Academy and are led by student Group Leaders. Group Leaders set the overall direction and expectations for the group, meet regularly with each other and daily with faculty advisors.

Some of the age- age-appropriate responsibilities the students are responsible for:

•“That’s not mine!” This is not something that we say at OLMC. It isn’t the custodial staff’s either. We clean up our shared spaces.
•Helping Hands - Students in Pre K 3 to Grade 2 all have classroom responsibilities (e.g. door holder, line leader, etc.)
•Attendance and Lunchtime! – Students in Grades 3, 4, 5, and 7 collect attendance and serve younger students' lunch and prepare, serve, and clean up at all lunches.
• Hands-On Leadership – Students in Grades 6 through 8 are charged with writing the script and leading convocation, setting the week’s group schedules, ranking groups, serving as ambassadors, running recess, and more.
•All groups in Grades 6-8 have group leaders who work alongside staff to manage events, concerns, and more!



Core Value #3: Experiential Learning - Wonder is Never Passive.

When a child wonders, it calls them to action! At OLMC we are building critical thinkers, simply put, we are teaching students how to think, not what to think. Studies show retention is strongest when students experience learning, not just memorize or recite. So at OLMC, we like to say, "If a student can't use it, get rid of it!" That is to say, from microscopes and 3D printers to theatrical sound and lighting equipment, we allow students to experience the lesson.

"Wow! " An OLMC Kindergarten Student in Science Class

Once a week students attend an elective class of their choice, from cooking to yoga, to filmmaking and book clubs, electives change every trimester allowing students to try out a variety of real-world classrooms with hands-on instruction. The students come up with what kind of classes they would like to see. 

Some classes that students have suggested:

Jewelry Making

Lights, Camera, Action: iPad Filmmaking

Origami

Book Club (at various levels)

Carmel Cooks: Learn to Cook!

We Run Tenafly: Run and Yoga Club

Warriors of Wall Street

Crocheting, Sewing and Clothing design