The Passionists in Jamaica are involved in education at very level, from primary through tertiary education.
Have no doubt that the holy seed of education, of the divine word, will bring great fruit since His Divine Majesty has given great strength and efficacy to the holy words spoken by parents to their children. Continue then and act in such a way that you win them over by kindness.
- St. Paul of the Cross
Marc APJ from APJ Now on Vimeo.
Marc, a student at Haiti’s first free secondary school, the Academy for Peace and Justice, wants to make movies.
The Academy for Peace and Justice, opened in October 2010 with the support of Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) will in the coming years, provide 3,000 students per year from grades 7-13 with the tools and knowledge that will benefit Haiti in the long term. The school will also remove major barriers to education by providing food, clean water and medical care for the students.
APJ helps support the work of Passionist Fr. Rick Frechette in Haiti and includes among its supporters many familiar Hollywood stars, including Paul Haggis, Olivia Wilde, Josh Brolin, Maria Bello, Charlize Theron, James Franco, AnnaLynne McCord, Gerard Butler, Russell Crowe, Salman Rushdie, Susan Sarandon, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Demi Moore, Robert DeNiro, Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Trudie Styler, Moby, Sheryl Crow, Macy Gray, Sophie Milman and Jackson Browne.
Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is thrilled to announce the opening of the first free middle and high school to serve the children of the slums of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. On October 18, 2010, 50 grade seven students were welcomed into their new classrooms at The Academy for Peace and Justice. The school is managed by pioneering doctor and priest Father Rick Frechette and St. Luc, a program that provides education and meals in the poorest areas of Haiti.
A fundraising effort founded by Oscar-winning writer/director Paul Haggis and friends in 2008, APJ has been working towards this day for more than two years. While education is the priority at the school, food, drinking water and medical care are also being provided to every student-making the campus a much-needed source of comfort and security.
“Haiti has, by far, the lowest enrollment, completion, and literacy rates of any country in the Western Hemisphere,” says Haggis. “Up until this point, if you were a child born in Cite Soleil or surrounding slums and you were lucky enough to go to school-which maybe 20% of kids were-you could go as far as grade six, and that was it. Then you were out on the street, with almost no chance of getting a job or making a decent living.”
APJ hopes to change this by making higher education accessible to the children from the slums. “No child will ever be turned away from the Academy because they don’t have the money,” says Haggis. “Father Rick has found that education is valued more if it’s earned, and so many of the families will ‘pay’ for their child’s tuition by picking up trash or plastic bags.”
The Academy is fully dependent on private donations to APJ from individuals, corporations and organizations. “We are thrilled to be partnering with We Are The World Foundation, which is funding the Quincy Jones/Lionel Richie Music Academy,” says Haggis. The music school is currently in the design and planning stages, with the goal of breaking ground in the next few months.
The students at the Academy for Peace and Justice were selected from APJ-supported street schools and St. Luc primary schools. In addition to the required Haitian curriculum, the school will provide additional programs in music, art, film, computers, as well as vocational training in agriculture, accounting and medical support. Each class is expected to have between 250 and 400 students for a student body that will grow to roughly 2,800 over the coming years (additional students may be enrolled in arts and vocational programs). When construction is complete, the school will utilize solar and wind energy, and include an amphitheater, basketball courts and an edible garden.
The Academy of Peace and Justice is not only giving the youth of Port-au-Prince brighter futures but, because the campus is being built by a team of Haitian architects and construction teams, the local economy is experiencing a boost and a new group of skilled workers is being created. Even the school’s uniforms are being made on campus at the vocational school.
“There is an urgency to help Haitians rebuild their country,” says Dr. Reza Nabavian, executive director of APJ. “We strongly believe that education is the key to a sustainable recovery of this devastated nation and that this school will serve as a best-practice model for the ongoing education initiatives in Haiti.”
Major contributors include: Simon Baker + Rebecca Rigg, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Jackson Browne, Gerard Butler, Jim & Kristy Clark, Daniel Craig, Russell Crowe + Danielle Spencer, Penelope Cruz, Clint + Dina Eastwood, Gale Anne Hurd, Ryan Kavanaugh, Nicole Kidman + Keith Urban, Diane Lane, Susan Sarandon, Lehka Singh, Ben Stiller, Barbara Streisand and Charlize Theron, and Amy Pascal & Gary Martin and the employees of Sony Pictures.
Dear Brothers and Friends,
I would like to share some information with all of you.?`?Yesterday, we realized a dream that had been hoped for over the past number of years. We opened Pope John Paul II Catholic High School in Greenville, NC. The freshman class consists of 23 students. The vast majority are graduates of St. Peter’s. A grade will be added each year with increasingly larger classes until the school reaches the 9-12 configuration with about 100 students per grade. Last March, the diocese officially announced that this new high school would be opened in the fall. Land had been purchased nearly 8 years ago consisting of 63 acres adjacent to St.Gabriel’s church property for this first Catholic High School east of Raleigh. Classrooms are being rented from St.Gabriel’s Church until a new separate facility is built. Construction should begin within the year. So many parents had hoped for such a school. It is becoming a reality.
May I also inform you of our grammar school here at St. Peter’s. We opened yesterday with an enrollment of 558 students pre-k to 8th grade. There are 97 others, mostly non-parishioners, on the waiting list. Our school has no debt and receives no subsidy from the parish. In fact with the development office, it is setting up endowments to assure that all Catholics who wish to attend are able to receive a Catholic education. It is regarded as one of the finest schools in our state.
We had a successful Mission Trip in July and stayed at the Retreat House in Pittsburgh for 8 days. Joe Farris, our youth minister, arranged for our teenagers to live at St. Paul’s and go throughout the city on 21 different work projects in serving the poor and needy. 121 of our teens attended accompanied by 26 adults including myself. I was deeply touched by our young people and their prayerfulness. I do hope and pray we get vocations from these people. The Raleigh diocese has been campaigning for more priests. This year they have 22 seminarians with about nine more in a discernment process.
We open our new R.C.I.A. classes this Thursday, feast of Bl. Dominic Barberi. This past Easter our parish received 43 candidates into the Catholic Church. We are expecting an even bigger class this year. Many protestants are joining our church. Hence, we are praying to Bl. Dominic. God is blessing this ministry.??Art Schneider, whom some of you know, finished his first year of studies for the deaconate. Bishop Burbidge approved him this week to proceed toward becoming a deacon. That will be another blessing for our parish.
Lastly, today we initiate a new web site. We just got it up and running and will be adding all sorts of things over the next days. Please visit our web site at: www.saintpetercatholicchurch.org . Keep us in your prayers down here in the southern missions!
Father Justin Kerber, C.P.
