Catholic School Matters
May 10, 2021
Wear Your Seatbelt
The recent glut of vaccines and the announcement that approval for ages 12 and up has changed the educational landscape. In addition the expected approval of vaccines for ages 6 months to 12 this summer means that most of our students will have the opportunity to be vaccinated (at least once) this summer. Suddenly, school next year looks very different.
Holding up this new reality are the vaccine hesitant. I don’t debate the ardently vaccine hesitant. Instead I point to Pope Francis. He was vaccinated and has encouraged us to get vaccinated. If you reject his advice, holding your opinion as more valuable than the Pope’s, you’re going down a very dangerous path. I would instead offer an analogy to those on the fence.
I recall my father’s resistance to seat belt laws. “Why can’t the government just leave me alone?” he would ask. He had grown up without seat belts, driving tractors and taking responsibility for his own safety. His argument was based on personal freedom. Others would argue about government overreach and some would even say they would be safer without seat belts. Yes, that was a thing.
The winning argument was that car crashes without seat belts were costly to lives and to resources. In this case, it was the government’s role to legislate safe behavior and not allow people like my Dad to exercise one of their personal freedoms.
What if we treated COVID vaccinations like seat belts? Stop worrying about offending people’s convictions about these vaccines. We all need to get vaccinated to protect one another. The common good supersedes individual freedoms. If we are able to get our students vaccinated, we’ll reduce the anxiety in our school communities and return to the type of education we all enjoy.
Perhaps we should all step up and encourage each other to vaccinate. For each other.
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Dr. Tim Uhl
Deliberate Practice Section
What I'm Up To
- Mon: Travel/ Remote Work
- Tues: Cantalician Center Board meeting; visit to St. Alphonsus Regional School (Springville); dinner with Dr. Tom Burnford
- Wed: Podcast with Michael Deegan released; Staff Meeting; Meeting with High School Principals & Catholic Virtual
- Thurs: Mass & visit to St. Joe's Collegiate
- Fri: Principal meeting (all day)
Catholic School Matters
Email: catholicschoolmatters@gmail.com
Website: www.drtimuhl.com
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: 716-847-5520
Twitter: @drtimuhl
Catholic School Links
Catholic Schools Closing & Opening
Catholic school near Pittsburgh to close
Shenandoah Catholic school to close;
Leadership Links
Teaching & Learning
Miscellany
Catholic School Matters podcast
As the Diocese of Buffalo engages in its "Road to Renewal" which will involve parish and school reorganizations, I have engaged school leaders from other dioceses who have embarked on governance reorganizations in order to hear what has worked, what has been changed, and best practices. Last week, Lincoln Snyder from the Diocese of Sacramento joined me to discuss their regional school board model. This week, Mr. Michael Deegan joins me to discuss the Archdiocese of New York model.
Check out the past episodes from this season:
- Lincoln Snyder joined me May 5th
- Big Shoulders Fund with President/CEO Josh Hale
- Urban Catholic School Research with Dr. Charles Cownie, Dr. Andrew Miller, and Annie Smith
- Catholic Social Teaching with Mark Shea
- Part One, Fratelli Tutti, with Dr. Ann Garrido; Part Two, Fratelli Tutti, with Fr. Joe Corpora; Part Three, Fratelli Tutti, with Dr. Carmen Nanko-Fernández; Part Four, Fratelli Tutti, with Dr. Leonard DeLorenzo;
- Part Five, Fratelli Tutti, With Dr. Katherine Greiner
- 12 Christmas podcasts: Michael Deegan of the Archdiocese of NY, Nicole Garnett of Notre Dame law school on religious charters, Maka Black Elk on truth & healing, Dr. Jeannine Hill Fletcher on The Sin of White Supremacy, Dr Leslie Lipovski from the Diocese of Arlington & St. Isidore Virtual Catholic School, Mary Flock of the Diocese of Orange & St. Polycarp Virtual Catholic School, Bruce Davis of Catholic Virtual, Jeff Hausman of AVLI, Kyle Pietrantonio of DIA Schools, Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski of VLCFF, Frankie Jones of ACE, and Mike Derrick of San Diego Cristo Rey HS.
- Thought Leaders: Dave Stuart, Jr., George Couros, Dr. Christian Dallavis from Partnership Schools; Dr. Debbie Sullivan & FADICA reports;
- Pandemic-focused podcasts: Fr. Eric Ramirez, SJ from Regis Jesuit HS; John Galvan from the Diocese of San Diego; Elizabeth Goettl, CEO, Cristo Rey Network; Dr. Tim McNiff of Engineering Tomorrow.; Dr. Brandi Odom Lucas of Verbum Dei (Cristo Rey) HS; Jenny Oliver, the principal of St. Joe's in Auburn, CA; Br. John Montgomery, FSC, the principal of Cathedral High in Los Angeles; Leanne Geise, president of Dominican High in Wisconsin; August 19, 2020 Bea Kaleva (MT attorney) on COVID-related legal issues;
- August 12, 2020 Dr. Daryl Hagan of the Diocese of Evansville on reopening
What I'm Reading
The Last 5 Books:
- The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be (2021) by Marc A. Pitman
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know (2021) by Adam Grant
Against the Grain: The History of Buffalo's First Ward (2012) by Timothy Bohen
Buffalo at the Crossroads: The Past, Present, and Future of American Urbanism (2020) Edited by Peter Christensen
Restoring Trust in the Catholic Parish (2021) by Marijka Eeuwes Lampard
Click this link for a full list of my professional reading
Past Issues of Catholic School Matters
May 3, 2021 "We Need Each Other"
Mar 22, 2021 "Big Shoulders Fund"
Mar 15, 2021 "Researching Urban Catholic Schools"
Mar 8, 2021 "Catholic Social Teaching"
Mar 1, 2021 "Collective Conscience"
For previous newsletters, click this link
Orchestrating Conflict
A couple of years ago I set out to write a book which would explore the challenges of Catholic school leadership. My premise that there are no easy answers and that we have to learn from our (and other's) mistakes in order to form a mindset appropriate for orchestrating conflict proved prescient as we all faced completely new and unexpected challenges in 2020. The book,Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic Leadership is now available on Amazon or on the Barnes & Noble site in print or e-book formats. The book explores issues in Catholic school leadership and the tensions between building community and following Church policies and introduces deliberate practice as a method for leadership formation.