October – SDG 13-Progress-Curiosity

Oct 5, 2026 | News & Events

Notre Dame Virtual School’s October focus is Climate Action (SDG #13) and Curiosity.

“Curiosity: Learning to Notice Our Common Home.”

Curiosity begins with what is close at hand–the trees, birds, weather, water, and people around us–and opens into questions:

What is changing?
Who is affected, and whose experiences have we not heard?
What might we discover if we listen more closely?
What is ours to do?

Notice → Get curious → Listen → Discern → Respond

This gives Peace and the Season of Creation a natural connection: care begins with attention. Watching Jesus be Jesus can guide our seeing – notice the person, listen to the story, and let understanding shape our response.

Jump To: Monthly Theme | Leo’s Corner | Students’ Corner | Resources

📣 Monthly Theme: October — Climate change, Seeing Change, Artists help Us See

Climate Action: What are we working toward?

Explore SDG 13⁠—the UN’s goal for addressing climate change and its impacts.

What does climate action look like where we live?

Seeing Change: Look again

NASA’s Images of Change⁠ uses paired images to reveal changes on Earth over time.

What do you notice? What would you need to learn before explaining the change?

Artists Help Us See

A Mural of Mother Nature⁠—UNEP shares how public art can invite attention to environmental concerns and action. What is this artist helping us see—and care about?

An Invitation to Artists–and to all Who Notice

Artists and photographers help us pause, look again, and wee what we might otherwise miss. What changes are you noticing where you live? Through a photograph, drawing, poem, or another creative expression, help someone see Earth’s beauty, it vulnerability, and possibilities for care.

NOTICE → FOCUS → LISTEN DEEPLY → DISCERN → RESPOND

Among all the voices calling for our attention, what am I being invited to notice—and what is mine to do?

🕊 Leo’s Corner: Art Helps Us See Again

Pope Leo XIV reminds us that the Church needs artists. Art can slow our looking, deepen our listening, and help us recognize people’s hopes, wounds, and longing for beauty, justice, and peace.

That invitation connects with our October focus on Climate Action and Curiosity. A photograph, painting, poem, or song can help us notice Earth’s beauty—and the places calling for our care.

Leo also emphasizes the difference between human art and images generated by AI. Human creativity carries lived experience, personal searching, and meaning; generating an image calls us to consider what human vision and responsibility bring to its use.

What might your creativity help someone notice—and care about—more deeply?

🎒 Students’ Corner: What Do You Notice?

A camera, a sketchbook, or a few thoughtful words can help us see our common home more closely. This month, as we explore SDG 13: Climate Action, begin with curiosity.

Take a closer look around your school, neighborhood, or home:

Notice: What catches your attention—a tree, a puddle, a shady spot, or a place where things are being wasted?
Get curious: What questions does it raise? Who could help you learn more?
Create: Take a photograph, draw a picture, or write a short poem that helps someone else notice what you see.

Give your creation a title and add one sentence: “This makes me wonder…”

Share your discoveries with your class. Together, choose one small action that grows from what you have learned.

What might caring for our common home look like right where you are?

🌎 Resources: Follow Your Curiosity

Our attention to peace and care for creation continues into October. These resources invite us to look more closely, listen deeply, and discover what might be ours to do.

Season of Creation — Keep the Conversation Growing
Although the Season of Creation concluded on October 4, its invitations to prayer, reflection, and action can continue throughout the year.
Explore the Season of Creation resources⁠.
Laudato Si’ Movement — From Contemplation to Action
Explore Catholic resources that help connect our experience of creation with everyday choices and care for our common home.
Visit the Laudato Si’ Movement’s resource collection⁠.
United Nations — Peace Every Day
September’s International Day of Peace reminds us to carry peacemaking into our classrooms, communities, and daily relationships.
Explore the UN’s International Day of Peace resources⁠.
Pope Leo — Young People Becoming Witnesses of Hope
Speaking with young people in France, Pope Leo encouraged service, listening, and discernment amid concerns about climate change, digital life, and the future. His words offer an invitation for young people everywhere: let concern become a caring response.
Read Pope Leo’s dialogue and reflection with young people⁠.
AI and Human Imagination — The Gift of Artists
Pope Leo’s recent address to artists invites us to consider the distinctive gifts of human creativity. Artists help us pause, listen, and see more deeply. As AI-generated images become more common, what do human experience, imagination, and care bring to what we create?
Read “Pope Leo: the Church needs artists”⁠.

What catches your attention? Follow that breadcrumb. Look again. Listen. Then discern the response that is yours to make.

October – SDG 13-Progress-Curiosity

News & Events

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