On Friday, May 29, 2020, the MYP hosted Wonder Day as a virtual event over Zoom Conferencing. Wonder Day is one of the most recognizable events in the MYP’s history and the Team approached re-working it for video conferencing in a very creative way.
The event was rectored by Diana Roach & Tom Leavens and the Team members were Nan Adams, Cathy Bischoff Weinbaum, Marilu Capobianco, Kerin Carty-Kreigsman, Dina DePaola, John Fodera, Eileen Haggerty, Megan McComiskey & Jean Bena Pedri. Also, we were joined by MYP Alumni Shauna D’Arcy, Mary Leavens & Chris Weinbaum.
We started the event by playing, “Match Game MYP.” Each teen was given a turn to complete a sentence & match it with everyone else on the video call. Questions were like, “During this pandemic, James Taylor re-wrote the words to, ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’ It’s now called, “You’ve Got a __________!” Great answers were given by all! This led into Jean Pedri reading the poem, “Please Hear What I’m Not Saying,” by Charles C. Finn. This poem was a perfect fit for the theme of Wonder Day—and Jean remembered it from when she was a teen.
Diana Roach, along with Shauna D’Arcy & Chris Weinbaum, gave a talk with this theme: “We must be aware of our MASKS in order to see ourselves as we really are and to be aware that other people are lovable and need our respect (as we need theirs).” It was so great to have two alumni (now in college) share their perspectives with our teens. We then created Breakout Rooms & worked in small groups. First, the groups had a discussion on masks. Then, the teens created masks (materials emailed earlier in the week) that were decorated with words that described themselves—what people see & recognize on the outside of the mask & things that people don’t see easier on the inside of the mask. The evening concluded with a Prayer Service, starting with the reading of Romans 12: 9-10 = “Love others well, and don’t hide behind a mask; love authentically. Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it. Live in true devotion to one another, loving each other as sisters and brothers. Be first to honor others by putting them first.” We then listened to the song, “If You Don’t Love Yourself,” by The Script. We concluded with a service called, “A Prayer To Be My True Self,” and intentions.
Although these times of social distancing are less than ideal, the MYP still works to bring teens to a better understanding of themselves, others & God.