Honoring Our Beloved K-12 Catholic Schools: Debunking Common Myths and Looking Ahead

By Bill Henk – With Catholic Schools Week now squarely upon us, it’s only fitting to honor these educational treasures.  Today’s affirmation takes the form of putting K-12 Catholic schools into proper perspective and looking toward a brighter future.

You see, there are a lot of misconceptions about Catholic schools out there,  and it’s high time to set the record straight.  And there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about Catholic education, especially when these common myths can be dismissed.

Sad to say, one of the reasons I know about these faulty perceptions is that I harbored many of them myself even as a lifetime Catholic.  It surely didn’t help that I am the product of public education from kindergarten all the way through my doctorate and then worked in public universities until 2004.  In fact, even in my first few years at Marquette, a Catholic university no less, I still didn’t truly grasp the realities of Catholic schools.

It wasn’t until I helped to co-found our Greater Milwaukee Catholic Education Consortium (GMCEC) almost five years ago that I finally started to become enlightened.  Since then, I have literally become a student of K-12 Catholic education, which explains the heightened awareness that I feel compelled to share with our readers here.

So, with the help of my valued colleagues in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Office For Schools and the GMCEC, I’ve assembled  a list of common Catholic school myths below.  Be forewarned, I  don’t elaborate much, and believe me, it’s probably for the best, because I’m hardly an expert.  Instead I’m relying on your willingness to acknowledge that the very opposite of each statement represents the truth.

So What are the Myths?

Tuesday Trivia – January 29, 2013

Did you know that this week, January 27th-February 2nd, is Catholic Schools Week? Let’s see what else you know!

What is the theme of this year’s Catholic Schools Week?

Claim your chance to win by leaving the correct answer in the comments section below anytime today between 7am – 6pm. And don’t be afraid to play, even if someone has already posted the right answer! One winner will be randomly selected from ALL correct answers after the close of business and announced the following day.  The winner will be posted on our Facebook page and notified by email.  Please note that you must have a valid email address listed in your comment or WordPress profile to win.

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How much do YOU know about Marquette University and the College of Education? Test your knowledge every Tuesday during Tuesday Trivia!

Serve Wholeheartedly: A Message for Aspiring Teachers

On Sunday, October 7th, the College of Education hosted its annual blessing service to honor student teachers and field placement students. This year’s service featured particularly inspiring comments from COED Assistant Professor, Leigh van den Kieboom.  Her remarks  appear here for your appreciation and enjoyment.  

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As you begin your field experience and student teaching, remember that your training is not over; it’s just beginning and will continue every day that you teach.

A good teacher must first and always be a good learner.

And you learn to teach by teaching… there is no other way.

So you must approach your field experience and student teaching with both humility and confidence – humility because you don’t know everything about teaching and learning yet, and confidence because you know more about teaching and learning than you think you do.

Your work is of immeasurable and lasting importance, and your students will remember you long after you have helped them move on to the next step in their life. So, be yourself and give all of yourself.

Bring your enthusiasm and interests into the classroom and share them with the students who will learn to love and respect you. And learn to seek out, embrace, and build upon the knowledge, enthusiasm, and interests your students will bring into your classroom.

Accept and receive each of the students you teach as a special gift to you, never wishing to teach other or better students, but always working to figure out how to teach “this” group of students.

Plan on feeling overwhelmed, as though this experience has swallowed you whole and consumed all of your energy. And then, remember why you’re feeling overwhelmed; it’s because you are.

Teaching is an enormously difficult job that when done well only looks easy. Find strength to combat this overwhelming feeling by knowing that teaching is filled with fresh starts – a new day, a new lesson, a new unit, a new school year.

You can try again…

And finally, as men and women who are called to serve others in your field experience and student teaching, serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving God Himself, because you know God will reward everyone for whatever good he or she does. (Ephesians 6:7)

Servant Leadership: Learning from the Act of Service

By Erin Galvin – Growing up in Catholic schools, service was always incorporated into my education.  It began with small acts of charity, such as preparing food baskets for a Thanksgiving food drive and completing service hours in junior high.

While I enjoyed these experiences, it wasn’t until I experienced Jesuit secondary and higher education that service became more than a mere requirement.  Over the past few years, I have come to value service for the personal relationships that I have developed with others.  The opportunity to be fully present to another human being has made service a meaningful part of my life.

As I reflect on what service means to me, I immediately think of my first service experience where I developed relationships with the people that I served.  This service experience took place during my sophomore year of high school when I signed up to spend a Monday evening participating in the Labre Project.  The Labre Project is a weekly ministry of friendship and food to the homeless in Akron, Ohio.

In three short hours, service became an act of being with others rather than doing for others.  I met several individuals who openly welcomed several high school students and teachers into their living space (usually the steps outside of a church or a camp that they set up near the railroad tracks) to talk with them about their lives and current events. They also offered advice to all of us students, such as emphasizing the importance of making good decisions and getting a good education. Through my conversations with my Labre friends, I learned that they had experienced a series of events or made decisions that led them to homelessness.  Listening to their stories helped me to see beyond the common stereotypes associated with homeless individuals as well as understand the obstacles that they face on a daily basis.

While this service experience took place over six years ago, it opened my eyes to how service can be an act of being present to another. This is the experience from which my passion for service stems and the reason why service continues to be an integral part of my Marquette experience.

At Marquette, I have had countless opportunities to participate in service experiences and often times I feel like I take away far more than I give to the people that I work with. In each of these service experiences, I strive to be fully present to others and build relationships with them.  From participating in the Dorothy Day Social Justice Living Learning Community to going on service trips through the MAP and IMAP programs, the relationships that I have build with others in the context of service have transformed me.  Sometimes these relationships brought a smile to my face because of the simple joy of experiencing friendship or playing games with schoolchildren. Other times, I have found myself saddened and frustrated by the injustices of this world.  Regardless of the emotion that each conversation evoked, each relationship called me to continue to participate in service and reflect on how I can use college education to benefit the lives of others.

As a future educator, I hope to empower my students to achieve their goals as well as give them opportunities to participate in service just like my teachers did for me.

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Erin Galvin is a rising senior majoring in Elementary Education and Mathematics.  This summer she is teaching at Breakthrough Fort Worth, an affiliate of Breakthrough Collaborative.  The program provides highly motivated students from underserved populations with a six-year academically intense enrichment program with the ultimate goal that the students will graduate from a four-year university.  This is Erin’s second year with the program, and she will be teaching 8^th grade Geometry and Algebra. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Erin will be serving as the Math Department Chair where she will work closely with a Mentor Teacher and her fellow math teachers to provide their students with quality math instruction.

Securing the Future of Catholic Schools

By Jen Maney, GMCEC Institutional Coordinator – A few years back, a group of like-minded people in Milwaukee with a commitment to K-12 Catholic education got together and began to talk about the ways in which some of our local Catholic colleges and universities might better support these schools.

From those conversations, the GMCEC, or Greater Milwaukee Catholic Education Consortium, was born. As a result, Milwaukee is the first archdiocese in the United States to have all of its Catholic universities and colleges within its boundaries mount a collaborative effort to ensure the future of its Catholic schools.

I was brought in about a year later to coordinate some of the efforts that were beginning to take shape under commitment and guidance from Alverno College, Cardinal Stritch, Marian University, Marquette University, and Mount Mary College.

“It will never work,” a friend of mine said as I was discerning whether or not to take this brand new position, never occupied by anyone, anywhere. “’Groups like that always die when new leaders come on board,” said someone else. “You’re crazy if you want to report to five different institutions!” cried a family member.

In spite of my lack of experience in Catholic K-12 education, I decided to jump in and accept the challenge.

Two and a half years later I have had a chance to stand back and appreciate what we have accomplished thus far:

• The GMCEC has served over 500 teachers and administrators from 80 archdiocesan schools in barely three years.
• Three of its board members, including me, were invited to Washington D.C. through the Department of Education, to address a group of educators thinking of new and better ways to improve our schools.
• The GMCEC, in collaboration with the Archdiocesan Office for Schools and the St. Clare Center at Cardinal Stritch University, supports a year-long, cohort-model, faith formation training program for school teachers and leaders wishing to grow their faith and understanding their ministry to “teach as Jesus did.”
• In December, 2010, Marquette University hosted a roundtable discussion among 40 Catholic school leaders struggling with their school’s Catholic identity in the 21^st century.
• In August, the GMCEC and Office for Schools provided ongoing training to over 245 teachers looking to improve their classroom practice as we establish a new school culture of welcoming students of all learning levels.
• The GMCEC has developed and conducted grant writing workshops to help schools seek both local and federal funding.
• The GMCEC collaborated with the national Department of Education to provide a two-day workshop on how Catholic schools can work more effectively and efficiently to obtain federal funds for special needs and low-income students.
• Alverno College developed and offered a Basic Spanish class for 12 Catholic school teachers working in our schools serving English language learners.
• Alverno also developed and conducted a 6-week mini-course for teachers on serving our Latino population more effectively and more justly.
• The GMCEC is involved in utilizing master’s degree students in counseling from Mount Mary College to go into Racine elementary schools and provide counseling services to its students.
• Marian University hosted 166 teachers at the “21^st Century Approach to Teaching and Learning” conference in August to assist our Catholic school teachers meet the challenges of a growing electronic age.
• Marquette University’s service learning department connected 13 Catholic schools with undergraduate courses and their students with its mission to do work within the community.
• All five participating GMCEC institutions offer tuition discounts for its Catholic school teachers and leaders.

This is just some of the work we have done thus far. As we look to the future, the GMCEC is taking the lead in measuring the academic effectiveness of our schools, something that has never been done in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. In addition, we are coordinating an effort to help our urban schools who participate in the school choice initiative by conducting customized professional development for their populations.

The GMCEC will also be welcoming universities from across the country in October of 2012, including Boston College, Fordham University, University of Notre Dame, Loyola Marymount, and Catholic University, among others, as it hosts a national summit on school governance.

The question this collection of institutions has asked in the past is “how can our Catholic colleges and universities better serve our Catholic elementary and high schools?”

The thing is…here in Milwaukee? We already are.

It’s About Faith: The Dilemma of Faith Formation in Catholic Schools

By Jeff LaBelle, S.J. — Faith formation for Catholic educators has become even more essential as we move forward in the 21^st century. Of particular concern for superintendents, principals, and fellow teachers in Catholic elementary, middle, and high schools is how to support and mentor those teachers who are not trained in the Catholic faith, including those who come from a different faith tradition.

This issue is complicated by the dramatic drop in the number and availability of Catholic priests, deacons, and religious men and women to assist in the Catholic faith formation of students in our schools.

Let’s take a look at some of the facts.

Teaching Children the Real Meaning of Christmas: One Year Later

By Bill Henk — Last year around this time I wrote a post that meant a lot to me, but didn’t generate very much i reader interest.  In it, I shared what my wife and I were doing so that our daughter didn’t get completely overwhelmed by the glitter and glitz of Christmas and our society’s beloved Santa Claus tradition.

Basically our hope was that our Audrey might grasp the true meaning of the holiday.   We wanted her to know that Christmas took its roots from the birth of Jesus, not from old Saint Nick.   We hoped that this message was being reinforced in her K-5 Catholic school classroom, but we honestly didn’t know.

The post, which was called “Teaching Children the Real Meaning of Christmas,” picked up some steam as last December 25th approached, but it never really took off.  In fact, the post didn’t gather significant momentum until just before Thanksgiving of this year.   Since then, though, its rise in popularity has been pretty amazing.  It now holds the distinction of being our third all-time leading blog post.

I’ve got to admit that the newfound popularity of the post, attracting hundreds of readers every single day now, has been gratifying.  It pleases me to know so many others care about teaching children that it’s Jesus who put the ‘Christ’ in Christmas.

Trying To Impress Jesus: Justice, Forgiveness, and Appreciation

By Bill Henk — As we got into our family van to attend Sunday mass recently, my little daughter said to me, “Daddy, I’m taking my prayer book to church.” I looked down when buckling her car seat, and she did indeed have her tiny book of prayers perched in her lap.  It was the first time she had ever brought it.

Partly because we tease with each other all the time, but also with a little playful sarcasm, I asked her, “Just who are you trying to impress anyway, young lady?” I expected the question to leave her baffled, but she didn’t hesitate for an instant.

“Jesus,” she said.  The name emerged in the most innocent, honest, and exacting way imaginable.  Only a child could cut so perfectly to the heart of a matter.

I shouldn’t have been completely surprised by her answer.  She attends a Christian daycare, and they talk about God and Jesus a lot.  And all day long she is immersed in Christian music either through FM radio or the personal CDs teachers bring in to play in their classrooms.   So she is exposed to Jesus frequently throughout most days, and it’s one of the things I like most about this daycare.

Anyway, her answer did more than merely give me pause and make me laugh.  It also made me think.  Hard.

Catholic Schools Can Help The Church Reclaim Religious Pride

By Jennifer Maney— Recently during Mass something happened that I have never experienced in my 40+ years of going to church. The priest was applauded (and quite loudly) after his sermon, for several reasons. He addressed the sexual abuse scandal head-on.

I know, you are now wondering, what does this have to do with education or Catholic schools? Well, hang in there with me for just a moment.  It wasn’t addressing the topic in and of itself that gave me so much hope, although it could have been as I have been waiting for the transparency in conversation around this topic for a while. Instead it was the message itself. He talked about several things that need to happen to begin to allow the Church as a community to heal:

Beatitudes for Educators

Those who teach others unto justice shall shine like stars for all eternity.” (Daniel, 12:3).

Earlier in her career, our own Dr. Kathleen Cepelka found great inspiration in these words.  In fact, they moved her to write a wonderful tribute to teachers that took the form of the Beatitudes.

Recently Dr. Cepelka shared her version of these blessings in a Faber Takes Three video that I strongly encourage you to view.  In the video, Kathleen touches upon the calling to become a teacher and invites viewers to offer thanks to those who have taught us and to all those we have taught.

The tribute, which appears below, touched me so deeply that I asked her permission to share it here, and she graciously consented.  It seemed like an especially appropriate way to begin Holy Week and to pay homage to the author of the original Beatitudes, the greatest educator of all.  

BH

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Blessed are those who lead today,
for they are impacting tomorrow.

Blessed are those who live what they say;
their words will be heard.

Blessed are those whose lesson is the Gospel;
they are being formed by the Teacher of teachers.

Blessed are those who do not fear questions;
they are pursuing truth.

Blessed are those who manage with compassion;
they are shaping souls.

Blessed are those who do not count the cost;
they are purchasing hidden treasures.

Blessed are those who “instruct others in justice;
they will shine like stars
for all eternity.”