Live Learn Serve Succeed: CSW 2018

Next week, January 28- Feb 3, is yet another Catholic Schools Week.  As you can see, in the dates to remember section, we are having a week filled with special events and dress days.  These days are open to every student and staff of SPX.  I look forward to seeing everyone's "favorite" each day of the week.  I especially look forward to "Throwback Thursday."

 

Every year the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) chooses a theme for Catholic Schools Week (CSW).  This year's theme is "Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed."  When looking at this theme, it is like they had St. Pius X Catholic School in mind.

 

The first part of the theme, Learn, is exactly what we do best here at SPX.  Our students continue to exceed the expectations put forth by excelling in the standards given by the Indiana Department of Education.  This is evident in our continued record of receiving the "A" grade from the Indiana Department of Education.  We have also received the "Four Star School" Recognition, the highest honor one can receive from the state of Indiana.

 

While the standards and education are very important, here at SPX, we look for opportunities to teach the whole child.  The state standards are important, but going above and beyond what one can learn in the classroom is also important.  This is where service comes in.  Over the last few years, we have implemented our monthly Kaizen program, allowing our students to find ways to think outside of themselves, the school, and think bigger towards the community.  Some ways in which our students serve the community are Synergizing with Seniors, donating food to the Shalom Zone, collecting almost six million pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House, and so much more.  For the first time, last year, we did an all school community service day, in which all of our students from grades K-8 went outside the school and served others in the community.  We are currently scheduling another service day for 2018, and look forward to getting our hands "dirty" helping those in our community.

 

Another opportunity in which SPX focuses on teaching the whole child is our Leader in Me program.  In our fifth year of this program, leadership has become an integral part of our program.  Students have taken on many leadership roles within our school, but for the first time this year, we have started a Student Ambassador program.  Students applied and interviewed to be a student ambassador.  Those receiving this honor have taken leadership positions such as, leading school tours for potential new families to leading groups on our service day.  Leadership has been ingrained into our school and is now an important part of the day just like our academics.

 

As you can see, when learning, service, and leadership are taught, it leads down the only path it can go, and that is success.  Not every student can succeed at everything, but here at SPX there are opportunities for students to succeed in all areas that teach the whole child.  Yes, academics are important.  Yes, service is important.  Yes, leadership is important.  And when all three are put together, you might just find that you are in a great Catholic School.  Happy Catholic Schools Week!!

First We Must Develop the Friendship

Happy New Year and welcome back!!  I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Christmas Vacation and your new year is off to a great start.  We are so excited to have our students back and in the swing of things.  After yesterday’s professional development day, I get the feeling everyone is ready to get back in the groove of school.  This is the long stretch of the school year, and I hope everyone is rested and ready to take on the challenge.

 

While on break, my family went to Christmas Eve Mass with my father.  Mass started at 4PM, and we arrived at 3PM.  My son was a little confused that we were showing up so early for Mass.  By about 3:15PM, the church was packed and the standing room only areas were filling up quickly.  At this time, my son said, “Dad, why are there so many people here?”  It was then I had to explain that there are a lot of people visiting their family, just like we were visiting grandpa.  I also told him that many people only go to church on Christmas and Easter, and that if these people would go to Mass every Sunday, then the churches would either have to schedule more Masses or build bigger churches. 

 

 As the New Year’s resolutions are being made and broken, I always wonder if the Christmas and Easter visitors every make a resolution to go to Mass more.  I am sure they are frustrated with standing for Mass, and the amount of time it takes to do Communion with so many people, maybe they think Mass just takes too long.  Maybe they just do not know where to start to get back into making Mass a regular, weekly event.

 

We have struggled as a Church to find the ways to get people back to church.  We have encouraged people to just start going again.  We have been asked to invite a fallen away church goer to join us at church.  We have even gone so far as to make applications and websites to reach the “millennial” crowd.  We have tried so many things of which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t.  The way in which we try to reach out and share our faith will always be a struggle, for like education and the different types of learners, the way we reach people has to be different for each individual struggling with their faith journey.  There is no guaranteed solution to work.

 

That being said, a priest friend of mine has a blog.  His name is Fr. John Hollowell and he is the pastor of Annunciation and St. Paul’s Catholic Churches in southern Indiana.  His blog is titled On This Rock.  He often post videos of his sermons, or reviews of books and movies, and even gets a little political every now and then.  Over the break, he posted a video(link is below), that he encourages everyone to share with those who are struggling to get back to church.  While I am not struggling to get back into my faith, I am always looking for new ways to reach out to those that are not normal church goers.

 

This video is a unique perspective of a priest and his own struggles with the Mass.  It is a unique perspective on why Mass attendance is not where it should be.  It also offers some great advice to ease back into the church.  Just like our New Year’s resolutions, we jump into to them “gung ho” and in a short period of time, we drop off quickly to the point of not even trying.  Jumping into faith might just be the same thing.  If we get all gung ho, will it last or will we eventually start to drop off to the point of not returning.

 

I implore everyone to watch this 12 minute video.  Rest assured, it is not another sermon.  This video does a great job sharing the struggles and offering a suggestion on how to get us back into our faith.  It is just one of the many ways, we can reach out to those fallen away church goers.  Will it work for everyone, surely not, but if it works for one, then it is one more person reaching the Kingdom of God.

 

https://vimeo.com/248818856