I first volunteered to teach a weekly ballet class at Nativity Academy in downtown Louisville three years ago. This inner city middle school is privately-funded to educate and mentor low-income children with academic promise. My ballet class is among the enrichment offerings. The goal of the after-school program is to introduce at-risk students to new activities and keep them in a safe environment after the academic day ends. It is my chance to share dance, music and friendship. The arts can be a powerful bridge between people and I am grateful for this opportunity to be both teacher and mentor. Pictured at left: my first class of students at Nativity. It was a small but enthusiastic group. The girls were thrilled to perform publicly in costume (below) at year’s end.

Clare Blim

Now in its third year at Nativity Academy, my ballet class has grown in enrollment (current students are pictured below and below right). We meet every Thursday afternoon and I provide each girl with a leotard, skirt and ballet shoes. This enables anyone who wants to participate to do so. I plan to choreograph a piece for these dancers to perform at the end-of-year showcase. I hope to again borrow costumes from my dance school so that these students can experience a realistic performance opportunity. They love to dress up!

Clare Blim I wrote the following article about my Nativity Academy outreach. It was published in a Sacred Heart Academy alumni magazine that was distributed nationwide.

I spent nine years making memories at Sacred Heart Model School. Tucked inside a box in our attic you will find my grade school art projects and my “macaroni man” – which was my first science lesson on the basic bones of the human body. I saved it because it was the one and only time we were allowed to chew gum in school. Mrs. Keys policed the gum-chewing very closely. We could chew it and then stretch it across the pasta to represent muscles. Any leftovers were bound for the wastebasket before we left her classroom.

And, now, I am on the home stretch: my senior year at Sacred Heart Academy. It’s impossible to single out any one thing as being the best at SHA. It’s been fun – mostly – I can’t say all the homework is fun, but the teachers and my college counselor, Mrs. O’Connor, are amazing.

There are so many special things along the way like sophomore grandparent Mass where my friend, Sister Anthony OSU, stood in for my grandparents. Earning paper clips in math with Ms. Clemons, and cheering the teachers when they surprised us with a flash mob.

I’ll take along great memories when I graduate. And, I’ll take along something else that’s been an important part of my life since preschool.

The Ursuline Core Values of Community, Reverence, Service and Leadership.

Community is what you feel here- that sense of belonging we all want. Despite our different faith traditions, backgrounds and interests- we are the Ursuline Community.

To me, Reverence means respecting everyone and honoring the Ursuline Sisters, faculty and staff who have poured their hearts into making a Sacred Heart education a true gift. It is something I do not take for granted. Making us smarter is one thing, an important thing, of course; but making our hearts bigger is what being in a Catholic school is all about.

Clare Blim

It has been a big week for me.

I turned 18 on Saturday and 15 of those years have been spent on this campus.

I was three years old when I bounded into Ms. Indra’s Montessori classroom where the world opened up wide for me. I loved everything about preschool. The pets. My friends. Snack. The Montessori work – especially bead counting (It’s math…but FUN math)!

Age three is also when I started ballet here; and I’ve been dancing on the stage in this building ever since. We are already in rehearsal for The Nutcracker, so consider yourself invited.

SHSA Blog – Artist at Heart September 2015

Clare Blim '16 (left) with her parents, Anne and John Blim, and sister Kathleen '18

Being asked to speak at the Sacred Heart scholarship brunch gave me another opportunity to talk about the importance of service (see highlighted section). My speech was then added to the campus blog.

The core value of Service is at the center of an Ursuline education. As my pastor, Father Mark, says, “To whom much is given, much is required.” From the time I was three, we students were encouraged to reach out to others with shoe drives, toy drives, book donations and the most rewarding way: with hands-on help.

This past summer, I used power tools for the first time! I helped tear out and replace the floor of a flood-damaged home in Appalachia. It was eye-opening. The poverty was staggering, but it was easy to find common ground with the couple we were helping. We share a love of family, and we all want acceptance and kindness.

Another outreach that’s had a big impact on me happens every Thursday after school. That’s when I go to Nativity Academy to teach ballet to middle school girls as part of their after-school enrichment program. I was scared to death when I started. Let’s face it, being in charge of middle school girls is a little frightening.

It has been fun to share something I am passionate about with others who had not had the chance to step to the ballet barre. We do more than dance. We talk about our day, about school, about whatever comes up. It has made me a better, more compassionate and understanding person and, I hope, has helped my Nativity students (#1) enjoy ballet and (#2) enjoy a friendship with a high school girl who used to be a stranger. Again, it is easy to find common ground if we look for it. We all want to be respected, appreciated and included.

The fourth core value is Leadership. It’s all around me: in a friend who redirects a conversation when someone is being negative; in a teacher whose expectations make me try harder; in Peer Mentoring at area middle schools, volunteering to tutor freshmen at SHA and helping at Open House.

I could not have had all these life-changing opportunities without some help.

1. I want to thank my parents, who have made many sacrifices so that my sister and I could be on this campus for 15 years and counting.

2. I thank the Ursuline Sisters, who not only founded this campus, but have provided me with an annual scholarship that has made a tremendous difference to our family. It is an honor to receive the scholarship and the trust that comes along with it. I hope that I have told the Sisters often enough how thankful I am for their support and prayers.

3. I am grateful to the SHA Parent Association which has, again this year, provided me with a scholarship for my work at Nativity Academy.

And on behalf of all SHA students, thank you to every sponsor here today- so many good people who have reached out and answered the call. All of us students – and our parents – appreciate your thoughtfulness, your generosity and your encouragement. Come commencement in May, you’ll find me in line with my fellow SHA sisters, wearing a big smile. Tucked under my robe somewhere will be a little souvenir from each of the four Sacred Heart schools that have made such a difference in my life.

Clare Blim ‘16 Student Speaker, Scholarship Brunch Reception Recipient of the 2015-16 Casper Scholarship and the Ursuline Sisters Leadership Scholarship