From February 2 to 6, NDB celebrated Foundresses Week, a campus-wide event organized by Hallmarks in Action (HIA) to honor the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDdeN) and their commitment to the education of girls. This year’s theme, “Educating Girls for Life,” highlighted the belief that learning is not just a privilege, but a powerful tool for independence and opportunity.
Across campus, Foundresses’ Week connected the school’s mission to present-day student experiences, emphasizing how the values of the SNDdeN continue to influence daily interactions, shared traditions and the overall culture of NDB today.
“Foundresses Week is the week every year when we celebrate St. Julie and Françoise, the two foundresses of Notre Dame, and we celebrate the Sisters of Notre Dame really because they’re the ones that brought our schools and Belmont to life,” said Director of Mission and Ministry Amy Jobin. “So, we celebrate them, and we celebrate our Notre Dame mission, and what their work has been about for all of these years.”
This year’s theme was chosen to reflect the school’s identity and the mission of the SNDdeN, emphasizing the lasting impact of education beyond the classroom and its role in empowering women throughout their lives.
“We were kind of thinking about what’s important to our school and especially with the Hallmarks and St. Julie being such a powerful advocate for education,” said HIA Board member and sophomore Leila Murugan. “I think they really came to us.”
From February 2 to 6, NDB celebrated Foundresses Week, a campus-wide event organized by Hallmarks in Action (HIA) to honor the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDdeN) and their commitment to the education of girls. This year’s theme, “Educating Girls for Life,” highlighted the belief that learning is not just a privilege, but a powerful tool for independence and opportunity.
Across campus, Foundresses’ Week connected the school’s mission to present-day student experiences, emphasizing how the values of the SNDdeN continue to influence daily interactions, shared traditions and the overall culture of NDB today.
“Foundresses Week is the week every year when we celebrate St. Julie and Françoise, the two foundresses of Notre Dame, and we celebrate the Sisters of Notre Dame really because they’re the ones that brought our schools and Belmont to life,” said Director of Mission and Ministry Amy Jobin. “So, we celebrate them, and we celebrate our Notre Dame mission, and what their work has been about for all of these years.”
This year’s theme was chosen to reflect the school’s identity and the mission of the SNDdeN, emphasizing the lasting impact of education beyond the classroom and its role in empowering women throughout their lives.
“We were kind of thinking about what’s important to our school and especially with the Hallmarks and St. Julie being such a powerful advocate for education,” said HIA Board member and sophomore Leila Murugan. “I think they really came to us.”
Behind the scenes, planning for Foundresses Week required collaboration and coordination.
“So, at our weekly meeting, we meet twice a week and we’ve just been coming up with ideas for our bulletin board, for activities, a lot of brainstorming, a lot of collaboration, a lot of fine-tuning,” said Murugan.
In addition to planning, board members focused on creating activities that would be engaging, meaningful and accessible to the school community. “We started by … picking the theme, and then we had to come up with activities that we’re gonna offer,” said HIA Co-President Caroline Zerella. “We chose a couple that we’ve done before that [we] really like – like cookie deco- rating and prayer card and affirmation making – and then [we invited] a guest speaker.”
This year’s speaker, Lizzie Dalton from Mercy Beyond Borders, spoke about expanding education opportunities for girls living in extreme poverty. Her talk emphasized the role of education in creating independence and long-term opportunity, directly reflecting this year’s theme.
Foundresses Week also encourages students and staffulty to reflect on how the NDB mission continues today. By centering the week around St. Julie Billiart, the event invites the community to consider how her vision applies in a more modern context.
“I think the thing that makes this one most different is that we’re really focusing in on St. Julie and our mission and ask-
ing ourselves, ‘What does it look like to live the sisters’ mission and the Notre Dame mission in the 21st century?” stated Jobin. “Because I think what the sisters would say is that the mission belongs to all of us now, and all of us are called to … carry the Notre Dame mission and the work of Notre Dame into the world today.”
Through its events and outreach, Foundresses Week brought the theme of “Educating Girls for Life” into daily campus life. This week strengthened a shared sense of community and purpose among students, reinforcing the values that define NDB. HIA helped ensure that the legacy of the SNDdeN remains, not just remembered, but actively lived.
