The Fulcrum Foundation Ambassador Program is back! Although the program suspended site visits due to COVID-19, newly appointed program co-chairs Shelley Hovind and Mary Lee have been busy behind the scenes preparing the team for re-entry. Plans for an ambassador summer retreat and training program are in the works. Looking ahead to fall, the ambassador team enthusiastically plans to return to parish and school site visits.
“Our original goal for the Ambassador team was to visit all 71 schools in the archdiocese over a period of two to three years to familiarize ourselves with the school community and their goals of Catholic education,” said Shelley. ” We were made aware that many of our schools were unfamiliar with the scope of Fulcrum’s impact and we experienced such excitement at the extraordinary education our schools were providing to our students. At the debriefing after each visit, we all said ‘best one yet!!’ We were brought to an abrupt halt after two years by COVID-19, which has given us time to reevaluate the program and explore ways in which we can make the program more effective for our schools and for Fulcrum. Being in our schools is an experience that every Ambassador treasures. We can’t wait to be back beginning in the fall!”
Shelley recently visited Eastside Catholic School for the first ambassador site visit since March 2020. The goal of the Ambassador Program is to meet with school and student leaders and build connections between the school and Fulcrum.
“The excitement of being back in one of our schools made us even more aware of what we had been missing,” Shelley added. “Eastside Catholic is a combined middle and high school which serves students from a wide range of communities and takes great pride in a rigorous curriculum, including an emphasis on STEM. We loved the fact that the high school students have the opportunity to mentor the middle school students. As we have found in previous visits to our Catholic schools, students have respect for others and understand the value of education. It was wonderful being back with a school filled with students!”
For more information about the Ambassador Program, contact Stephanie Singler, engagement manager, at stephanie.singler@fulcrumfoundation.org.