As cherry blossoms just began to appear in Japan this March, Ruth Ayala-Terrazas ’25 visited a temple and saw sights that took her breath away.

“Many people were dressed in kimonos. It was beautiful,” the Stone Ridge Third Academic recalled of her school trip with 13 other Upper School students.

Two young women were particularly striking in their traditional Japanese clothing, and Ruth wanted to ask the pair if she could take their photo. The language barrier loomed large, but the three used Google Translate on Ruth’s smartphone to enthusiastically talk with one another.

It was a simple, sweet conversation, Ruth said, that has resonated with her ever since. “It was a small, two-minute conversation that could have happened anywhere, but for some reason it’s stuck with me,” she said. “It speaks to the reason I think global understanding is so important: fostering this idea of global understanding can lead to more respectful dialogue and more empathy for one another, which I think we need in today’s world.”

Ruth is one of several students in the first cohort for Stone Ridge’s new Global Studies Certificate. This certificate, as well as a reimagined STEM Certificate, provides students with hands-on experience and the opportunity to deepen their understanding of their preferred competency.

Dr. Jeannie Downey-Vanover, Assistant Head of Upper School and Chair of World Languages; and Jaime Chao Mignano, Director of Educational Technology and Innovation, developed the certificates to share a similar framework. Both credentials now incorporate experiential learning, as well as advanced studies components. While the certificates do not transfer to college credit, they demonstrate that students have shown a concentrated effort to be diligent and persevere in a particular field.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Examining the World

In envisioning a new certificate, Stone Ridge faculty wanted to create intercultural and interdisciplinary educational programs that are both timely and timeless and also aligned with the mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

“In one of their most recent documents, the RSCJ make reference to global citizenship and all that comes with that—modern languages and understanding what is happening around the world and locally,” Dr. Downey-Vanover said. “The work for this Global Studies Certificate prompts our students to ask questions about the communities and perspectives that shape our world. ‘How is my well-being bound up in yours? How are we interconnected and interdependent? Once we determine what that is, what do we do about it?’”

“Ultimately, we want to instill in them the ability to engage across cultures, an appreciation for the practices different than their own, and a curiosity and accountability for what is happening in the world.”

To earn a Global Studies Certificate, students must take a fourth year of world language and either history or social studies, take world religions as their fourth year of theology, and complete two global studies courses from an approved list. Candidates must also complete at least three intercultural experiences, two community engagement projects, a summer job shadow, and an interview with a field expert to inform an article submission to the campus publication Here and Now.

And they must lead a session in Stone Ridge’s forthcoming Global Studies Summit.

“From critical-thinking skills and comprehending various perspectives to social awareness and honing public speaking skills, our students are gaining experience as global citizens,” Dr. Downey-Vanover said. “Ultimately, we want to instill in them the ability to engage across cultures, an appreciation for the practices different than their own, and a curiosity and accountability for what is happening in the world.”

The first cohort of Global Studies Certificate candidates will graduate in spring 2025.

Science and Technology in and out of the Classroom

Though Stone Ridge’s dedication to STEM has already inspired numerous successful alumnae, such as Meyerhoff Scholars at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and medical school candidates, faculty wanted to amplify what graduates’ profiles could become by updating the STEM Certificate.

When surveyed during the revisioning process, more than 60 percent of certificate applicants noted they valued the opportunity to do fieldwork and participate in STEM-related activities outside the classroom. One student noted she was drawn to the opportunity due to the guidance it provided for gaining those hands-on experiences off campus.

“We took that feedback to heart and worked to refocus the program to include more experience in the field. This speaks to the value of developing relationships of mentorship, which is particularly important for women in the sciences,” Ms. Chao Mignano said. “We’ve also added experiential components, like the ‘teach-out,’ which stresses the importance of information sharing, another fundamental aspect of STEM.”

In addition to four years of science and mathematics and one engineering and computer science course, the mentor program now includes a summer internship requirement. As with the Global Studies Certificate, students then conduct hands-on workshops at Stone Ridge’s spring Innovation Summit. Candidates must also participate in numerous STEM field trips, seminars, and lectures, as well as interview an expert and submit the subsequent article for publication in Here and Now.

“Earning this certificate is now more rigorous than before, but we know we are moving toward how we want this program to serve the campus community,” Ms. Chao Mignano said. “This is an opportunity to show our students they can be leaders and innovators and to feed that culture of innovation into the School as a whole.” ❤