Pat Monahan, CSJ

I met Miriam MacGillis, OP (1984) at NCEA, and Thomas Berry (1987) at Genesis Farm.  Thomas lived only 15 minutes from me and frequently encouraged me to "do something for the children." So I started an ecology club at Nichols Middle School. Margarita Urrea was an ESL teacher assistant. As we became friends, she started an ecology club at nearby Davis Middle School with her bi-lingual students.  We did some joint projects and others on our own.  One weekend, on our way home from Genesis Farm, we were brainstorming a joint name for our clubs and I still remind her it was she who came up with the name 'Kids for the Earth.'  Without her partnership, energy and enthusism I/we couldn't have accomplished half as much.  Kids for the Earth became a model for other schools in NY and other states.  Margarita embraced the New Cosmology enthusiastically and reverences the Universe as the dwelling place of the Divine.  We each have multiple albums and commendations for our work with students in the Mount Vernon School District.  

Currently, I am a member of CitizenTree, a group dedicated to preserving green space and to planting and preserving heritage trees in Mount Vernon, NY (formerly a USA Tree City) prior to the encroachment of high rise development in our city.  Most challenging!  

I am not actively involved in any work requiring physical activity anymore, but I have encouraged younger women to continue this Great Work.