Franciscan perspectives need to be shared. Sister Lorita Gaffney, Sister Margaret Ann Wallander, Sister Christine Stoller, and Sister Marcolette Madden attended a “Public Scoping Meeting” at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc. Members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offered a series of public meetings as part of the process to allow citizens to ask questions, express concerns, and voice support for a new National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan and Port Washington.
Among the 30 people who spoke during the “Public Comment” part of the evening was Sister Marcolette, member of the faculty of Silver Lake College of the Holy Family. Her sharing follows:
“Over the years the faculty at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family have found that community resources, such as the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, have supported and enhanced our various curricula. There are artifacts and simulations housed in the Museum that cannot be replicated in classrooms When students in our Teacher Education Program participate in the Education programs the Museum offers, Science-Literacy connections come alive and the Thinking Like An Historian Framework takes on new meaning.
I support the initiative because I believe it would underscore our legacy of appreciation for and wise use of natural resources, exponentially expand educational opportunities for research and marine literacy, and demonstrate our conviction regarding the value of Care for Creation.”