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“Not all heroes wear capes.” I’m sure that you’ve heard that saying before.
Well, it’s true, and you don’t have to go to your local hospital, fire, or police station to find them. All you have to do is look as far as your local Catholic school.
Take a look at the teachers, principals, secretaries, aides, administrative assistants, custodians, cooks, and counselors.
In Catholic schools, the heroes are everywhere.I hope that everyone enjoyed a blessed Thanksgiving. Truly, we have numerous blessings for which to give thanks. I am particularly grateful that our Catholic schools have been operating in-person this fall and that they have been able to provide children with a safe, faith filled, educational experience that honors and develops their intellectual, physical, social, spiritual and emotional traits by cultivating human relationships through in-person education. I am thankful that our students have experienced this aspect of “normal” life in the midst of a most abnormal year.
Another school year is upon us, and so many of our teachers are filled with great joy and excitement at the idea of once again seeing all of the children, students, and families who we haven’t seen since St. Patrick’s Day last March.
Looking back at my life, other than some great teachers, my time in elementary school wasn’t that memorable. Like anything, it had its moments but as a whole, it was pretty ordinary.
This week, all of our Catholic schools celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. It is a time set aside to think of all the many ways that our teachers give of themselves and give to our students and families.
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It seems these days that our culture is focused on the question of individual identity. Young people are searching to find out who they are.
They are yearning to define themselves in the world and to give their lives specific meaning. Whether it is the type of clothes they wear, the music they listen to, the food they eat, the company they keep, or their social media profile and postings on Facebook and Instagram, etc., everyone seems to be engaged in the tasking of forging a unique identity in the search to add meaning and significance to their life.
Happy Catholic Schools Week! This coming Sunday marks the beginning of a national, week-long celebration of Catholic schools.
In the Diocese of Madison, each one of the 43 Catholic elementary and high schools will be celebrating their students, teachers, parents, and all of the incredible success and achievements of their students as they learn and grow academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
This is the third and last article in a series leading up to Catholic School Informational Sunday on August 9.
Why do Catholic schools exist? When you look at this from a student’s view, there are two clear goals: 1) College and 2) Heaven. While we hope that students realize these goals in this order, Heaven is clearly the more important of the two.
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This is the second article in a series leading up to Catholic School Informational Sunday on August 9.
I often meet people who have questions about Catholic schools: What do Catholic schools do? How are they different than any other school? What difference do they make? Why should we consider sending our children when we have good public schools? Why do Catholic schools matter?
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Next to the public schools, Catholic schools form the largest school system in America, enrolling over 1.8 million students in over 6,300 schools nationwide.
In the Diocese of Madison, 40 percent of our parishes sponsor a Catholic grade school. Catholic schools are an apostolate of the Church and have had a significant impact on our nation, our diocese, and our parishes, yet I often hear people wonder why we have Catholic schools. Why do Catholic schools exist?
