At the beginning of October, an initial meeting of the schools of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Brazil and Saint George's College in Chile was held online. It was organized in cooperation between Marcia Sivoli, General Education Coordinator of the Holy Cross schools in Brazil, and Fr. Rodrigo Valenzuela, C.S.C., Director for Mission Engagement of Saint George's College. The main objective was to share educational experiences in the field of inclusion.

At the meeting, teachers and directors from both educational institutions spoke about how they currently approach and develop inclusive practices, recognizing the complexities involved and, at the same time, the fact that these practices cannot be postponed from the pedagogical perspective of Holy Cross.   

Read about the Holy Cross charism as educators in the faith

At the end Marcia Sivoli, with a grateful tone noted that “our objectives for this first meeting were quite simple: to get together and share what we do. Undoubtedly, it was much more than we expected.”

Fr. Valenzuela, for his part, added that the meeting showed us “how we give pedagogical answers, from our understanding of education in Holy Cross and based on the Gospel, to the common challenges presented to us by the present times.”

All the participating educators expressed their gratitude for the meeting, describing it as a very valuable space to learn and share experiences since "we are Santa Cruz and we have a common history and concept.”

With a view to next year, the schools have already begun preparations to repeat the experience, thinking of inviting more schools of the Congregation to share the different pedagogical experiences and, thus, turn this instance into a meeting point for Holy Cross educators.