Woodlands Academy celebrates diversity with annual flag ceremony

The richness of Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart's cultural diversity was celebrated with its annual Flag Ceremony and Liturgy of the Holy Spirit Friday, Sept. 11, at the all-girls college prep high school in Lake Forest.

"One of the blessings that we have here at Woodlands Academy is the richness of our cultural diversity proudly represented by our flags of many nations," Principal Madonna Lee Edmunds said. "As our knowledge and experience of new cultures and peoples expand and deepen, we come to more fully understand ourselves, our world and our global interconnectedness."

Senior Erika Rodriguez of Chicago led the flag procession carrying the Woodlands Academy flag, followed by flags from these nations where either a student or staff member was born or where they hold dual citizenship: Belize, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zimbabwe.

The flags remain in the chapel of the Sacred Heart during the entire school year.

Students and staff from 11 countries offered prayers in their native language during the ceremony which, this year, also featured the blessing of Meg Steele as Woodlands Academy's new head of school. Steele, who has been with Sacred Heart Schools in Chicago since 1997, assumed her new duties July 1.

The Rev. Matthew Foley from St. James Parish in Arlington Heights presided over the Mass and commissioned student Eucharistic ministers for the school year: seniors Julian Alutto of Lake Forest, Catherine Andrade of Ingleside, Bridget and Molly Carmody of Lake Bluff, Audrey and Charlotte Collopy of Chicago, Cassie Corbin of Lake Bluff, Kathryn Edwards of Wilmette, Nivia Guzman, Madelyn Morris of Lake Forest, Erika Rodriguez of Chicago, and Alyssa Silge of Lake Forest.

Founded in 1858, Woodlands Academy is an independent Catholic college preparatory day and boarding high school for young women. It's part of a worldwide network of Sacred Heart Schools that spans the United States and 40 other countries. A nonprofit, Woodlands Academy's identity is rooted in Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat's desire to inspire young hearts and minds to excel, to lead lives of integrity and to serve. For more information about Woodlands Academy, please visit www.woodlandsacademy.org

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