John Paul with his classmates on a recent 8th retreat trip to Camp Hidden Lakes, GA. Another amazing opportunity he received through our Catholic school... |
Each
year I grow more and more grateful for the gift of Catholic education in my own
life and in the lives of my five children.
As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week I was reminded of an old blog post
that I wrote -- for myself actually; it was cathartic to put my thoughts down
in writing. My big brother outed me, so
here it is again; this time with an addendum since John Paul is now in high
school, three years later ….
It’s that
time of the year when some of my students tell me they’re not returning to our
Catholic school. I always give them a
hug and tell them I’ll miss them. But
interiorly, I’m devastated. As someone
who has spent a lifetime in a Catholic school classroom - either sitting in a
desk or standing behind a podium - it makes me deeply, deeply sad. And quite frankly - mystified. I know that no school of any kind is
perfect: principals and teachers have
good days and bad … some teachers are excellent and some ho-hum … I homeschooled
for 15 years and I can assure you that was not perfect either!!! But I
cannot think of what benefit could outweigh the myriad blessings that come from
a Catholic education. I’ve personally
witnessed this is in my own life, in the lives of my 5 children, and in the
lives of my students. I honestly don’t think
parents have a true understanding of what their kids will be missing.
There are
plenty of scholarly articles out there with stats on and figures on the excellence
of Catholic education (superior test scores, graduates that are civically
involved, etc). I encourage everyone to
do their research and read them. But
here in this space I would simply like to focus on the effects on my own John Paul, about to
start 8th grade. His
education (and especially his faith life) would be so lacking without the
experiences he has gained in our Catholic school. Here’s just a small sampling of what he would
have missed:
·
Opportunities
to assist at Mass.
Weekly school Masses bring innumerable opportunities for kids to lector,
bring up the gifts, usher, and especially to serve at the altar. John Paul and his peers are often asked to
serve at funerals during the week, which is a wonderful way to live out the Works
of Mercy to “Bury the dead” and “Pray for the living and the dead.” It also reminds them of their own mortality –
never a bad thing for a teenager!
·
Immersion
in a life of prayer.
The Catholic school day revolves around prayer and the sacraments. John Paul would have missed out on quarterly
confessions, weekly Adoration, weekly Mass, class rosaries, Stations of the
Cross, May Crownings, and more. Since
prayers are frequently recited, they are learned effortlessly. In our school, for example, we pray the same
morning prayer for a month, so by the end of the month the entire school (even
the littlest ones) can recite beautiful prayers like St. Ignatius’ Prayer for
Generosity, the Suscipe, the Anima
Christi, St. Francis’ Prayer for Peace, St. Patrick’s Breastplate, the Act of
Faith, The Morning Offering, and on and on.
We didn’t come close to memorizing that many prayers as homeschoolers. These prayers will stay with my kids their
whole lives.
·
Participation
in Middle School Prayer Groups. John Paul has been part of the Young Men of St. Joseph that meets
before school for breakfast and to read and discuss the upcoming Sunday
Gospel. (The girls have their own
equivalent group.) He also joined Lifesavers, a middle school peer-led
pro-life group that meets at 6:30 am at Planned Parenthood on Fridays during
the Forty Days for Life campaign. They
pray the Rosary and listen to a speaker on some important life issue. These unique experiences have helped his
faith mature.
Add uniforms to the list of Catholic school benefits! |
·
Reliance
on God in Times of Crisis. In
a Catholic school, we come together in times of crisis, and this is engrained
in students their entire lives, whether they fall away or remain faithful. Whenever there is a tragedy like the attack
on 9-11 or a sudden death, we stop everything and go to Mass or pray the Rosary
as a school. What a powerful life
lesson! Recently, we had a tragic death
of a young college student who had gone to our grade school. Who showed up front and center at the funeral
and Rosary but her many Catholic grade school friends, some of whom may not have kept in
touch over the years. There was
something about their Catholic school formation that drew them there.
·
Friendship
with Clergy. With
so many bad examples currently blasted all over the media, I am grateful that
John Paul is on a first-name basis with holy, excellent priests and
religious. We are blessed to have 5
seminarians from our parish - graduates of our grade school. On breaks they always come by to hang
out: they eat lunch with us, play
basketball games at PE, speak during religion classes, assist at school
Masses. Seminary life seems normal – and
actually pretty cool - to our middle
schoolers as a result. John Paul would
have missed out on all this if not enrolled in our school.
·
Instruction
in our Catholic Faith.
Of course religion classes are crucial.
John Paul was in a good CCD program when younger, but there is
absolutely no comparison to what he’s learned in the Catholic school
classroom. We are fooling ourselves if
we think CCD is a worthy substitute – and I say that as a former CCD teacher
myself! Just consider that the best CCD classes out there may meet 36
times, for roughly 36 hours of instruction per year (That’s 4 times a month for
9 months). Compare that to 180 hours of
direct religious instruction for the Catholic school kid, not counting all the
other instruction received throughout the school day mentioned above. It’s no wonder that only 5% of kids who don’t
go to Catholic school will attend Sunday Mass as adults. They have no idea of what they’re missing because
they haven’t been sufficiently taught!
My husband urges parents to substitute any
other subject for religion, and ask if they’d be satisfied with the CCD model
of instruction: “I agree that Algebra I is important, but I think one hour a week is
sufficient, with a volunteer teacher who may or may not be trained in the
subject. We’ll talk about it some at
home too.” Of course that would be
absurd, and to think it’s not also absurd for religious instruction means that
we don’t yet fully grasp the depths and riches of our Catholic faith.
But what about when I homeschooled John Paul? It was a great joy to instruct him in the
faith everyday – we used to sit on my bed and read and discuss chapters in his
religion text, plus read lots of saint stories and do fun projects designed to help
us live out the liturgical year. I loved
every second – and he loved it too. But
there comes a time, right around middle school, where my boys especially needed
to hear from other role models, besides my husband or me. I could literally feel them tuning Mom
out. But suddenly, their amazing
religion teacher says the very same thing and it takes on a whole new life. I’ve focused primarily on grade school here,
but this crossroads in faith instruction was magnified a hundred-fold once my
kids reached Catholic high school. The
Theology teachers and our campus ministers’ influence on my 3 older kids’ faith
has been transformative; the retreats they sponsored, life-changing. When my oldest son delivered his valedictory
address he thanked exactly three people:
one was his physics teacher, a great Catholic man whose guidance set my
son on his current career path, and the other two were our campus minister and
priest chaplain. What a void would exist
in his life if he hadn’t benefited from their presence and guidance day in and
day out, over four years, not just once a week for an hour or two at night for
youth group.
Some
of my dear friends opting for private or public schools have told me, “Well I went there and I turned out all
right!” Seriously, y’all, that was
in a different era. It is simply not the
same. My Mom tells of her excellent
public school education in the 1950s in Auburn, AL. But all her teachers and principals shared a
basic belief in God and similar world-view.
The virtues were taught and insisted upon. Today what is true is taught as bigotry; the
curricula are antagonistic toward any type of faith - or even the very idea of objective truth. My pastor preached one Sunday that it’s like
we’ve all fallen through Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole, and the world is
upside down. (And for the record, my Mom
and Dad sent us all to Catholic schools because they knew this to be true 30
years ago – and it’s even more true today!)
It is
incredibly difficult to emerge from that nihilistic world-view unscathed, and
if this were a more scholarly treatise, I would argue that any education
resulting from that faulty understanding of man and creation is seriously,
deeply flawed. Now more than ever we need
our kids in Catholic schools -- not to
shield them from the world but to arm them with the Truth.
Addendum for 2022:
Well if I wasn't convinced of the value of Catholic education before Covid Craziness, I sure am now. Miracles were surely worked to keep our schools open and our kids learning. But that's not even what I want to write about. I just feel so strongly about the need for strong, daily catechesis in our Catholic faith. If the world was upside down 3 years ago when I first wrote this, it has since done about 3 somersaults! I think we all worry for the future of our children and instinctively sense that we need to do more. To grade school parents, please hear me: if you pull your kids out of Catholic schools before high school, you're handicapping their faith formation for the rest of their lives! They are leaving with just a middle school understanding of their faith, and that is simply not enough to combat what they are about to face. (I can say this with surety because I teach middle school religion!) Catholic author Flannery O'Connor wrote that we have to push as hard against the culture as it pushes on us. It's a tidal wave, y'all! Please keep them in Catholic schools so that they don't drown in the confusion of the world.
Addendum #2 for 2022: My own kids are proof of the academic excellence of our Catholic schools: thanks to their intense instruction and formation I have had two at Notre Dame and one at Franciscan, attending there for next to nothing. (Thank you, McGill-Toolen Catholic High School!) All three say they felt very well- prepared.
Awesome! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteFantastic.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding! Thanks to Tim Uhl for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous! Thank you for sharing. I would like to share it also!
ReplyDeletePlease share any or all of it! Thank you.
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