Catholic Schools Opposing Racism/COR invites all the elementary and high schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago to join together in prayer, activities, study and reflection on our shared mission to create a world of racial harmony.

This year, COR celebrates COR Commitment Day on Friday, February 10, 2006. COR invites you to consider using one or more of the following 20 activities at your school on or around February 10.

We hope that you will be inspired to observe Commitment Day 2006 with renewed energy this year. Please let us know what you did or are planning to do by emailing simons@racebridges.net

Please visit our COR site www.racebridges.net/cor and find out about the activities of this ninth year of COR as well as reviewing the archive of our eight year history.

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20 WAYS CELEBRATE COMMITMENT DAY

1. PRAY IN SOLIDARITY WITH COR PRAYERS
Consider downloading the prayers on this site for students, teachers, school boards, and all-school gatherings. Be creative and adapt the prayers to your own context and situation. You will especially enjoy the prayers written this year by our elementary school children.

2. COMMIT TO ATTENDING AN EVENT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
See our calendar for upcoming events.

3. WRITE A COMMITMENT PLEDGE TO RACIAL UNITY AT YOUR SCHOOL OR IN YOUR CLASS
Read COR's Pledge on this site. Download the COR Pledge and use it as a model in creating your own school pledge against racial separation and injustice. In discussion, explore the interracial issues and challenges in your school community and in your adjoining neighborhoods. Create a process where all can contribute in a reflective, honest and prayerful way to write a Pledge Against Racism for your school. Have the completed pledge printed up in a large format.
Share your pledge with us: email: simons@racebridges.net

4. START A HARMONY or ANTI-RACISM GROUP FOR STUDENTS and/or FACULTY IN YOUR SCHOOL
COR seeks to present ideas and possibilities to teachers and students in the diverse Catholic high schools of the Chicago Archdiocese. Some high schools, like Nazareth, Notre Dame for Girls and Queen of Peace, have institutionalized in-house diversity groups like COR that seek to explore issues of race-relations within the school community and to promote inclusive behavior. Contact these schools for suggestions about how to get started with your group.

5. BEGIN A "BRIDGE-SCHOOL" ACTIVITY
Much of our ignorance about race comes from having very little contact or experience with persons who are different from ourselves. Consider developing an ongoing "bridge-activity" with another school in Chicago or the suburbs that is quite different from your own particular school.

Beyond athletic events, we seldom enjoy connections with communities different from ours. Participation in COR events provides this contact, but are there other activities that could bring us together? Consider inviting another school's choir or band to lead music at your next liturgy, or consider collaborating with another school in a joint service project. Share your bridge-building idea with COR!

6. PRESENT an ART EXHIBIT
Consider the underrepresented students and groups in your school. Seek to celebrate a particular group with paintings, videos, artifacts, or decorations from that particular culture. Have a special opening event for this exhibit and communicate the positive values and richness of the culture on display.

7. PLAN & CREATE A HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY EVENT
Consider exploring the rich variety of ethnic identities and histories of your student body through the assembly of students' family photographs of great grandparents, grandparents and parents. Design the assignment around the theme of immigration to America and the journeys of previous generations. The family tree could also be a fruitful model for gathering photographs and the students' accounts of these images.

Photographs could be copied and scanned and developed into an attractive display or presentation.

8. READ/PERFORM THE SHORT COR PLAY "MORE THAN YOU CAN SEE" IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL
"More Than You Can See" is the name of the successful short play performed this year at our September 2004 COR Supper. It was written by writer/director Megan Carney who developed it from the real stories of students about race-relations and dealing with difference. It is only about 25 minutes long, but its impact endures. Contact COR for a copy.

9. DEVELOP AND CREATE A STORY GATHERING, STORY WRITING AND THEATER PERFORMANCE PROJECT ABOUT THE RACE ISSUES AT YOUR SCHOOL
Theater is a powerful way of working together. It is even more powerful when the subject matter is drawn from the real-life stories about race and identity of students at your school. Consider a project that includes:

(1) the gathering of stories about race and difference at your school
(2) the writing of these stories into a theatrical piece
(3) the discussion of the content of the script by the student actors as they rehearse and
(4) the performance of the play at your school followed by facilitated discussion.

Invite COR members to be your audience!

10. USE A PROFESSIONAL STORYTELLER FOR A SCHOOL ASSEMBLY FOCUSED ON THE MISSION OF RACIAL UNITY
Stories can unlock hearts. COR has often used professional storytellers to promote thought, reflection, prayer and action about race and diversity. The stories told--personal, humorous, tragic and hopeful--evoke stories in the listener and can move participants towards commitment and action. Email: simons@racebridges.net for information about storytellers committed to racial justice who work well with student audiences.

11. USE THE PASTORAL LETTER ON RACISM "DWELL IN MY LOVE" BY CARDINAL FRANCIS GEORGE AS A RICH SOURCE OF SHARED REFLECTION FOR YOUR FACULTY, BOARD AND STUDENTS

"We are called not only to a radical conversion of heart but a transformation of socially sinful structures as well."

This Pastoral calls schools in the Archdiocese to:

The Pastoral Letter is available through the Archdiocesan Office for Racial Justice at 312-751-8336.

12. CREATE A PLACE OF PRAYER FOR UNITY
Establish a simple altar/shrine/table for unity in your school where prayers are placed by students for increased interracial understanding and peace. It could be very simple, like an easel with some symbols/images of peace and unity, or it could be a small table that contains images, a cross, saints and the COR Pledge. The Place of Prayer could be positioned in a hallway or entrance to remind students and staff of the daily call to harmony. A prayer service could dedicate this place on February 9, 2005, Ash Wednesday, the day before COR Commitment Day, with related Lenten themes for justice, peace and reconciliation.

13. INVITE A SPEAKER FROM THE WIDER WORLD
Invite a speaker to your school who is from a completely different racial and ethnic background to encourage/challenge students and faculty to see the world from a different perspective. A panel of speakers could enrich the idea. Events in the world prompt us to consider a Muslim speaker and a theme that uncovers stereotypes of Muslims and Islam.

14. INTRODUCE SAINTS OF A DIFFERENT SHADE
Create a special focus in your school on saints from non-European traditions revered in the universal Catholic Church. Look at the lives of these saints and what they have to say to our lives today. Include contemporary saints from around the world in your discussion.

15. LEARN ABOUT JUSTICE SEEKERS AND DOERS
Create a special focus on the men and women who have fought and struggled for racial justice in the history of the United States and/or throughout global history. Use the rich resources of the social teachings of our Catholic Church for topic information.

16. CONDUCT AN ALL-SCHOOL INCLUSIVE PRAYER SERVICE
Download COR's Inclusive Table Prayer Service from this site. Change and adapt this prayer to your own school needs.

17. PLAN A DAY-TRIP TO TWO MUSEUMS THAT REPRESENT TWO DISTINCT CULTURES IN YOUR AREA
Develop and plan a day-trip for students to two cultural institutions that represent two cultures present in your school community. Focus these visits on the contributions of these groups and their part in the richness of American culture.

18. DEVELOP IMAGES
Create a poster for COR Commitment Day with the themes of interracial understanding, peace and unity. You might include the COR Pledge in your display.

19. HOLD A MOSAIC BOOK/VIDEO FAIR
In cooperation with your Library, seek to develop ideas for a special Book/Video Fair which highlights authors and subjects that focus on people of color and the American story from different perspectives.

20. USE YOUR SCHOOL COPY OF THE KALEIDOSCOPE CURRICULUM
Find your shelf copy of the curriculum COR sent to all the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago three years ago, written by Susan O'Halloran. This rich resource is being used by a number of schools as part of their regular curriculum. It contains many user-friendly activities to fuel discussions around insiders and outsiders, stereotypes, discrimination, etc. Contact COR if you can't locate your copy and need another.

Let us know how you used these ideas!