[HeartStrongList] Religious School Does A 360 (ok, maybe a 325). Plus, Outreach Update!

[heartstrong at heartstrong.org]

Religious School Does A 360 (maybe a 325)

        Last year, we shared the story of a young woman in a Catholic high
school who was experiencing ongoing harassment.  She shared her
own story and that of a fellow student in one of our newsletters.
	After repeated attempts to talk to her school counselor about the abuse
and abusive language she was enduring, she contacted HeartStrong after an
educational forum in her town.
	Aside from personal support, HeartStrong then provided her with
information to present to her counselor at her Catholic high school. 
HeartStrong also sent letters to administrators as well as the counselor.
	A few days ago, the student received her student handbook for the
2007-2008 school year.  To her surprise she found the following policies
published in the book.
	“Salpointe Catholic High School students will not...verbalize slurs or
remarks concerting gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, or
sexual orientation.”
 	Also in the handbook is a written policy by one of the teachers for her
own classroom.
	“...discriminatory or inflammatory behavior will not be tolerated.  These
include sexist, racist, and homophobic  comments.”
	Obviously, the new school policy for students is not the absolute best in
its wording, but it is a gigantic step for this school.
	Most importantly, this young woman has seen the results of her personal
empowerment to stand up to faith-based bullying at her school.
	HeartStrong is not revealing the name of the school because the last time
that there was major progress at a Catholic school like this there was a
lot of (nonHeartStrong) media attention and within a month the progress
was recinded by an archbishop.
	This is a very rare example of what can happen when a courageous student
does the right thing.

20th Outreach Trip Continues

	Many exciting things are happening on this trip.  We have extended the
first portion of this trip in northern California after students at
several schools requested visits.  So we are still near San Francisco
working hard to get as much accomplished in a short time as possible.
	The latest stats from the CA Dept. of Education show that San Francisco
County is still the county with the most religious schools in the country
and the highest enrollments in the state.
	We will be leaving soon to do more work in southern California and Nevada.
	We still need your financial help!  We are $8,000.00 short on the funds
needed for this trip which extends until December 18.
http://www.heartstrong.org
	Thanks for your support!

Marc Adams
volunteer executive director
HeartStrong, Inc.
heartstrong at heartstrong.org