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Hansen
Theology Department
Marian Catholic High School
Chicago Heights
Illinois
United States of America
December 3, 2008
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to tell about our experience with pro-life speaker, Stephanie Gray. Stephanie came to Marian Catholic High School on November 17, 2008 to speak to our seniors about the dignity of life and the tragedy of abortion. Some of our faculty were concerned as any discussion on such a sensitive topic could really turn students off or make them feel condemned; however, Stephanie's approach was not only appropriate but also filled with compassion.
Stephanie uses a common sense approach to discuss why some choices are okay to make because they are really preferences, and why some choices are not okay to make because they destroy or demean the dignity of others. Stephanie is able to take historical events and link them to the current pro-choice mentality to show students how tragic abortion really is.
Although much of the presentation presents philosophical ideology, Stephanie uses factual information to help students understand the effects of abortion. In one segment of the presentation some graphic pictures are appropriately used to show students the reality of abortion. It is a short section that the students are told about ahead of time so they may cover their eyes if they wish. Although many of my students agreed that the pictures were difficult to see, they agreed that once seen, there is no hiding from the truth of what abortion really is.
Most importantly, Stephanie's presentation style is not at all condemning. She expresses the compassion and forgiveness of God not only through her words, but also through her body language and tone of voice. I found Stephanie to be a wonderfully appropriate speaker with whom our students could relate and who gave our students many reasons to consider the wisdom of our Church's teaching on this subject. I highly recommend Stephanie Gray to you.
Sincerely,
Linda Hansen
Theology Department
