Before I delve into my recent conversation with Gabrielle Hurt, I want to provide an update on last week’s enormously successful 24-hour fundraiser for Rosati-Kain, the all-girls Catholic high school located at the corner of Lindell and Newstead. President Maggie Sullivan and Director of Major Gifts Boo Henderson have reported that, thanks to the generosity of 842 donors, including alums from across the country and a large contingent of CWEnders, the campaign more than doubled its stated goal of $250,000 and raised a total of $510,000!
At the suggestion of Boo Henderson I spent time chatting with R-K Junior Gabrielle Hurt, above. I came away thinking that, if this 17-year-old is an example of the can-do spirit of her Gen Z generation, the future seems a lot brighter. Hurt’s family moved to the CWE when Gabi was a sophomore at a public high school in Arizona. She was born in Boston and is the youngest of 5 siblings, 3 brothers and 2 sisters. The family moved to the CWE because her parents, Ty and Reverend Alexander Hurt, own a real estate company and most of the properties are located in St. Louis.
Gabi said she chose Rosati-Kain “because of the environment, the location—I can walk to school—and the faculty. I knew I would receive lots of one-on-one instruction.” She was also attracted to the racial and religious diversity of the student body, and a strong social justice component, which figures prominently in this post.
R-K students are required to accrue 100 hours of community service before they graduate. Miss Simmons, the Campus Ministry Adviser, suggested that Hurt and her classmates decide what projects they wanted to focus on to fulfill that requirement. During her Sophomore year, Hurt helped with Food Outreach, but then, while researching other needs in the St. Louis area, she learned that 87% of students are reading below grade level. That really struck a chord with Hurt. Her mother. who had been an English teacher and later a stay-at-home mom, would work with Gabi after school, which fostered her love of learning.
Public service seems to be part of the Hurt family’s DNA. Reverend Hurt was pastor of a church in Boston where he also ran a food program. Occasionally he would travel to Western Kenya to help build water wells. When the family moved to Arizona, Mrs. Hurt established a food pantry. Though Reverend Hurt is no longer associated with a church, he still is called upon to preach around the country.
Gabi Hurt said: “I want to share the love of learning I have with others, especially those who are less fortunate.” During her research, she learned that students in the Riverview Gardens School District do not receive as much help as students in the St. Louis City School District. Students there are mostly African-American from poor communities.
With the help of education activist Chester Asher, whom Hurt called out of the blue after seeing him on TND (American Television News Program), and the principal of Riverview Gardens’ Danforth Elementary, she formed her own 501c3 called “Pages of Promise Literacy Outreach.” Over a month’s time she set up an EIN, a domain name, and a business bank account. She received funding from Joseph Nettlemeyer, who worked for Emerson for years before becoming CEO of Valin Corporation. He happened to be touring Rosati-Kain with Marie Casey, a 1975 alum, and when he met Hurt and learned what she had accomplished, he contributed $5,000 to her non-profit.
Twenty of Hurt’s classmates have signed up to help with the summer program. (Some of those volunteers are photographed above at a recent visit to Union Station.) The twice weekly, 6-week summer program will take place just before the next school year begins, to help students catch up to their grade reading level.
Most of the funding Hurt’s received will be spent on transporting Danforth Elementary students from their homes to the school for the 45-minute program, as well as for workbooks, and treats for the kids. She’s still trying to figure out how to accomplish the transportation aspect, but has no doubt that she will make it happen. Hurt is also bringing in a literacy expert to train the volunteers on the most effective way to tutor the students. She definitely wants to make learning fun, with games and working one-on-one, just like her mother did with her.
Hurt describes Rosati-Kain as “a sisterhood, a community, it’s academic, it strengthens your spirituality, your love of God and others.” As I mentioned previously, R-K has a diverse student body. For instance, one of Hurt’s good friends is Muslim. Theology is a very popular class. The students have studied different religions and learned that a lot of the teachings are the same. “It’s about your relationship with yourself, with nature and with others. I think that can apply to anybody,” Hurt said, “not just people that have a Christian-based truth.”
Though Hurt also loves anatomy and history classes, when she graduates she wants to go into pre-law and political science at Spelman College in Atlanta, and then on to law school. 100% of R-K graduates are accepted into college. The class of 2023 attends universities from Hawaii to Dublin, including Harvard, Brown, Ohio Wesleyan, Lincoln University and Rhode Island School of Design. No doubt, whatever this young woman wants to accomplish, she’s on her way to a great future.
Excellent! So proud of Gabi.
Making a difference in the world.