Christ Centered

Christ didn’t come as a king; he didn’t come as a priest; he didn’t come as a coach, or actor, or banker. Christ came as a teacher. And that should tell us all we need to know. As our greatest inspiration and our best role model, he came as a teacher.

Teachers are the heart of any school, but even more so for Catholic schools. This is especially true in schools, such as ours, that are fully accredited, following state standards for teacher credentials and training. In addition, Catholic school teachers in our diocese meet guidelines that include annual professional development hours, faith formation hours, and extra technology standards.

Catholic school children are not perfectly formed with no emotional needs or learning issues. Our students are not all from the same economic group, ethnic background, or religious foundation. Catholic schools do not take just the best ones. Our teachers meet their students where they are every day and work with them to excel and encounter success: taking them from where they are to where they need to be. Our students learn, and it is not all facts, figures, dates and punctuation.

For years our fifth graders have created their own religious icons on wood based on the icon Christ the Teacher. After they have “written” their icon, a Greek cross is drawn on the back with the date inside and the following words are written, “Painted by the unworthy hand of your servant ____.” What better image to reflect the work of our school and all Catholic schools.

We are all in the process of being “written”: all the students, all the staff, and all the teachers. As an educator in a Catholic school, how awesome it is to know we follow His lead, Christ our teacher.