Fall 2017: Heartbeat and Annual Report Fall17 Heartbeat | Page 11

Students Explore Juvenile Justice
Educating students to a greater social awareness, providing to hope. The program included meeting onsite at a juvenile
them with opportunities to consider issues of justice, and prison facility with staff from the Illinois Department of
preparing them to be informed citizens are key aspects of Juvenile Justice, and visiting the Cook County Juvenile Court
Goal III of the Goals and Criteria, which guide the Network where the group learned the history of detention and efforts
of Sacred Heart Schools. Most important, Goal III is a call to reduce institutionalization.
to action that is embraced throughout the school year and
into the summer.
The students and faculty also spent time exploring restorative
justice and paths to healing, for both offenders and victims.
Since 2002, Sheridan Road’s Campus Minister, Dr. Jane They met with a father whose son was killed by another
Steinfels ASH’92, has coordinated one of the Network’s 12-16 teen in a tragic shooting, and the pastor who brought the
Summer Service Projects, which focus on either direct char- families and communities of the two young men together.
itable services to people in need or on issues of justice that They met the founder of the local Curt’s Café, which pro-
require systemic change. vides job training for young people who are on probation.
The 2017 Summer Service program, held in Chicago, offered
15 students and five faculty members from nine Sacred
Heart Network schools the chance to learn about a topic
that affects the lives of thousands of young people across
And they talked with Fr. Dave Kelly, CPPS, and staff of the
Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR) about their
efforts to reach out to the victim, the wrongdoer and the
community to create a safe space where healing can begin.
the nation—the juvenile justice system. Given the focus, the In reflecting on the experience, Dr. Steinfels said, “Since 2002,
project was geared toward more mature students—high I have witnessed changes in the juvenile justice system,
school juniors and seniors. particularly a greater awareness that restorative justice is the
The group gathered late in June. After getting to know one
another a little better and viewing two insightful documen-
taries on the subject, they immersed themselves in an issue
that presents heartbreaking challenges, but also avenues
only way to make a constructive change in the lives of all
involved. Providing an opportunity for students to explore
reconciliation and peacemaking, even in circumstances in
which that might seem undoable, is to open their eyes more
widely to what is possible, even in their own lives.”
Network students
participating in the
Summer Service
program visited a
few Chicago sites,
including “The Bean”
in Millennium Park.
FALL 2017
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