Knights Roundtable

October 2022

Dear Families,

The Knights Roundtable is the Diversity, Equity, and Unity newsletter created for DJO students, family, and community. Each month will center around a theme. The initiative on Diversity, Equity, and Unity is key to the ability of Bishop O'Connell to fulfill its mission and to have a positive effect on society. Sit back, grab a snack, and enjoy reading about current events, student stories, and how to be involved in making O'Connell a place where all students feel proud to say, we are family. GO, KNIGHTS!

Respect Assembly

Thursday, September 29th, the counseling department welcomed Sam Lucania as the guest speaker for the annual Respect Assembly. Sam touched on topics such as mental health, suicide awareness, addiction, and other possibly triggering topics. However, his uplifting focus is "how to turn your mess into a message." Check out one of his clips below, and remember, we all have something in common.

What can you do?

Students: you should reach out to new classmates, especially those who seem to be struggling. Do not allow people to suffer in isolation if you see bullying.

Enjoy a good read. Check out "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton

Often books teach us important life lessons. The novel focuses on two rival gangs; one is working-class, the other upper-class. It’s a powerful story of a boy (Ponyboy Curtis) who finds himself on the outskirts of society.

This Month we also CELEBRATE

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Italian American Heritage Month

Approximately 26 million people of Italian heritage currently reside in the United States, making up the seventh-largest ethnic group in the country. The heritage month is observed in October on the second Monday of the month. Italian-American Heritage Month recognizes the significant cultural contributions made by Americans with Italian ancestry. Make sure you check out our display case in school done by our Italian American Heritage Club.

Quick Facts

Americans of Italian descent are the nations seventh-largest ethnic group.

2000- An Apology The Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act was signed by President Clinton. This resulted in an official apology for the breaches of civil liberties suffered by Italian Americans during World War II.

1989- The President and Congress of the United States established October as Italian-American Heritage Month to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of Italian immigrants and their descendants residing in the United States.

1984- An Italian-American broke the gender barrier in U.S. politics

Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman on a major party ticket, running for vice president alongside presidential candidate Walter Mondale.