Eighth Grade Speaker Series
Eighth Grade Speaker Series
This spring, the 8th grade Servant Leadership course launched a new Speaker Series to wrap up our study of servant leadership. Each student chose a career of interest and was paired with a professional from that field. Speakers talked about their jobs, their approach to servant leadership, and how faith may have influenced their careers. Students prepared interview questions and wrote a CV-style introduction for each speaker. They then reflected on the experience in writing.
The course starts with Robert Greenleaf’s essay, “The Servant as Leader,” outlining ten traits of servant leaders. Students then profile a figure who exemplifies these traits and study our school’s foundress, Cornelia Connelly, to see which principles she embodied. The course concludes by discussing how each student can follow a path of servant leadership in their own vocation.
Speaker Series participants included:
- Stephanie Colello, MD - Internal Medicine (Pediatrics) and Cardiology Fellow at UPenn
- Bianca Reo Charbonneau, PhD - plant ecologist with expertise in coastal geomorphological research, and current postdoc fellow with US Coastal Research Program
- Taylor Morgan - a professional (civil) engineer at Kimley Horn
- Lorraine Simonis Mahoney, Esq. - attorney at Chubb, property and casualty insurance company
- Ed Hastings, PhD - Associate Teaching Professor at Villanova University in Theological and Religious Studies (specialty: sports and spirituality), and member of the 1970-1971 Villanova team that played for the national championship
- Kae Lani Palmisano - Food Editor of Philadelphia Magazine and TV Host of WHYY's Check, Please! Philly
- Priscilla Frederick Loomis - Olympic high jumper for Antigua and Barbuda; Motivational Speaker; Nonprofit Founder
- Rachel Van Wylen - Visual Arts Teacher at the Baldwin School and artist
The Speaker Series aimed to help students explore potential future careers, understand the paths required for these professions, identify servant leadership traits demonstrated by each speaker, and discover how faith can influence one's career journey.