Montana Catholic Schools Weekly
February 22, 2016
What do you mean by Catholic Identity?
One of my struggles as an administrator in Catholic schools is understanding the meaning of Catholic identity. It is difficult to understand what it means in a vacuum and extremely difficult to understand the traditions and expectations other people possess surrounding the Catholic identity of your school. I often think you can substitute other words for Catholic (“learning,” for example) and imagine the same struggle to understand the identity of a school.
In my first stint as a principal, I received a fair amount of criticism about the Catholic identity of the school. This struck me personally because my Catholic faith was important to me and I had a long history in Catholic schools. I went to the wise Monsignor Richard Greene for advice. Fr. Greene was/is my pastor at Sacred Heart on the Teche in New Iberia. I asked him, “How do I become a better Catholic faith leader?”
He suggested the importance of distinguishing between my ad atra (interior) and ad extra (exterior) faith lives. In suggesting this distinction, he also illustrated the Catholic identity conflicts which are prevalent in our schools. For example, I could have an active and rich personal prayer life but if I fail to translate that to leading faculty and Advisory Council meetings with prayer, I have failed to link the ad atra and ad extra.
Many people are concerned with the interior aspects of Catholic identity—how people treat each other, for example, or how we respond in times of crisis. Or the quality of student retreats as an experience of God’s love. Others are concerned with the outward (exterior) symbols of Catholic identity—crucifixes on the wall, school uniforms, student behavior at Masses, etc.
Both are important, of course, but it’s important to help people recognize their expectations in each area so that the school community can come to a common understanding of where people stand.
Monsignor Greene provided sage advice on how to translate one’s ad atra into recognized faith leadership. I’m still working on implementing all of his advice but it bears re-print:
· Start all your inner circle meetings (even if there are just two or three of you) by leading the opening prayer, then inviting someone else to give a closing prayer.
· Start all other meetings with larger groups in the same way.
· Look for even very simple opportunities daily to make "faith statements" to those with whom you work. Examples: God sure has given us a beautiful day. Let's keep our faculty and students in our prayers today. To individual faculty members and students: Is there anything you'd like me to pray for today? (If he/she tells you, say: Thanks, I'll put that at the top of my prayer list.)
· In faculty/staff meetings when discussing a problem, new idea, suggestion, etc., ask everyone: OK--WWJD, how would Jesus handle this? Let's make sure we come up with his answer to this question, not just with our answer? (Let the discussion proceed and as it seems to be coming to a specific recommendation, ask: Have we reached what Jesus would do? Are we and Jesus on the same page with this? Have we arrived at a conclusion that Jesus can live with? Will this bring us closer to God? Is this worthy of our being children of God? Are we convinced that the Holy Spirit has guided us to this recommendation/conclusion?)
· Ask faculty/staff/students to pray that you be a good principal. Example: Today I've got some important decisions to make (or: things to do, or: matters to attend to, or: an especially busy schedule today, etc.), so I'd really appreciate your prayers--would you say even a short one for me?
· Of course, all of the above questions/suggestions from your lips have to come first from your heart.
Dr. Tim Uhl, Superintendent
The Week Ahead
Monday: Great Falls meetings
Tuesday: Office (Helena)
Wednesday: Missoula meetings
Thursday: Great Falls meetings
Friday: Office (Helena)
This week: 695 miles
Last week: 1,013 miles
2015-16: 17,107 driving miles; 7,844 air miles
What I'm Reading in 2016
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (underway)
- The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda (on deck)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (finished)
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeon (finished)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (finished)
- Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip & Greg Heath (finished)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (finished)
- It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff (finished)
Montana Catholic Schools
Email: superintendent@montanacc.org
Website: www.montanacatholicschools.org
Location: PO Box 1708 Helena MT 59601
Phone: (406) 442-5761
Twitter: @mtcathschools
For Principals
- WCEA progress reports are due March 1st. This applies to all schools who were visited prior to this year and aren't scheduled for a 3-year revisit this year.
- NCEA is offering two new resources that are worth the time: an E-rate information page that is worth visiting, and a webinar on using ACRE results.
- School Messenger is offering a webinar to our Montana Catholic Schools on Feb 23rd at 3:00 pm. This webinar is designed to show off the new features (like apps) as well as provide an overview to interested schools. Registration info.
- For the March regional meetings--March 15th at Miles City; March 17th at Hays; March 22nd at Butte. All meetings will start at 10 am and lunch will be provided by the hosts.
- Here is the link to the Monthly Principal tasks. Intent forms for faculty/staff should have been collected.
- Here is a link to a great article on the role of boards.
- This is a great article on development trends in Catholic schools.
American Catholic News
American Catholic Schools Opening & Closing
Leadership Links
Teaching & Learning
Servant Leader of the Week: Dr. Craig Pearson
Dr. Craig Pierson had a career in the oil and gas industry and worked in the lab at Exxon before ‘retiring’ to become a teacher. He has taught at Billings Central Catholic High School for the past 15 years. Pierson also holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and a BA in Chemistry from the University of Montana.
Dr. Pierson truly is a servant leader. He was recently honored as the Billings Catholic Schools Educator of the Year, and nominations came in from students and fellow staff members alike. Watching students grow, including those who struggle with chemistry, keeps him excited and committed to education. The depth of knowledge of his subject matter equals his commitment to ensuring that students truly understand the content.
Miscellaneous
New York Times Articles
It is often difficult to link New York Times articles to this newsletter. So here's my work around: