The Mount Mercy Academy English Department recently completed its school-wide read project. The entire school, as well as the faculty, staff and administration, read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. The novel was discussed and studied in each English class and then the unit culminated in the student body completing three tasks. The tasks were designed to have the students make connections from their own lives to the events that took place in the novel.
The Bean Trees contained material that related well to the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, the school’s sponsoring body. The concerns include the practice of non-violence, deepen response to racism, reverence for the Earth, embracing a concern for women and standing in solidarity with immigrants.
