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In June, it’ll mark 23 years since I graduated from a Catholic school (sorry, Mom and Dad, if that makes you feel old).
I attended Two Rivers (Wis.) Catholic Central School (TRCCS), in the Diocese of Green Bay, from 1989 to 1998, from kindergarten to eighth grade. Like some students in the Diocese of Madison, I attended school in two buildings throughout those nine years — St. Mark for grades K to four and St. Luke for grades five to eight.
Unfortunately, the school, later known as St. Peter the Fisherman, is no longer open.
Name changes and school closings are also known to some people in this diocese, so my experience was somewhat “universal” with what other Catholic school students go through all over.What I learned
Those nine years in Catholic school helped to build the foundation of my faith life.
While the ensuing years of high school and college didn’t see me building much on top of it (although I still went to Mass every weekend), those years were still part of the start of my faith life and taught me lessons that I still take advantage of today.
I may not have been super devoted to it early on, but Catholic school helped me to know what the Rosary is, how to pray it (although I needed a “refresher course” later in life), and how important it is.
While a Catholic school student, I had opportunities to serve at Masses and take on other roles, such as the much-coveted-by-all “song leader,” in which a student announced the song titles and numbers during the Mass.
While I didn’t understand or grasp everything, it was the start of me knowing how important the Mass is.
I may have had an up-and-down prayer life throughout my entire life, but those “up” moments are a result of the importance prayer played every day while in a Catholic school. We prayed before meals, we prayed after meals, we prayed in the morning, and we prayed during other times in the day.
Even if they are the smallest and slowest-growing seeds, the seeds of Mass, the Rosary, and prayer are huge in the life of a young Catholic and in his or her future.
Catholic Schools Week
As you may have seen elsewhere in this week’s paper, we’re celebrating Catholic Schools Week, which is from January 29 to February 6.
Back when I was in school, this week usually meant some sort of field trip, a movie day, probably popcorn and/or ice cream, and school starting later in the day so adults could come and check us out after their work hours and we were all put on display (It was even called it “night school” to sound fancy).
For the past several years, I’ve been helping to layout the annual Catholic Schools Week section in the Catholic Herald.
I get both sentimental and jealous at the fun events schools in the diocese have going on that week.
Back when I was “just a reporter” here, several schools in the diocese would invite me to come out and “cover” some of their events which, admittedly, meant I’d stick around a while to take part in a few carnival games, service projects, or other fun events — all in the name of getting the story, I swear.
This year, things will be a little different during Catholic Schools Week.
Students, teachers, families, and the public won’t be able to take part in as many things as used to be available.
But it’s still a time to appreciate all that Catholic schools do and be thankful.
We can be thankful that there are so many places and opportunities for Catholic education in this diocese.
We can be thankful that the teachers care so much about their students and that families do all they can to be part of the education process as well.
We can be thankful the schools have worked incredibly hard to be open and safe during this time of pandemic.
We can be thankful God is in these schools and his word can spread.
Let’s be thankful for Catholic schools this Catholic Schools Week.