Renewing our commitment, zeal, and hope for Catholic education

It was definitely a neat experience to have NCEA 2019 in our very own city of Chicago this past week. The Archdiocese shut down for two days, and all schools were required to send their staffs. I bumped into so many people - my own current faculty, teachers I used to work with at my previous school, classmates from Remick and ACE, friends & professors from Notre Dame, and other fellow teachers from across the city. Plus, many of my faculty got to meet my twin sister and thought they were seeing double. (We were turning heads right and left, for sure.)

LOVED seeing our high school ACE teacher - she was the best!

Remick 15 representation at NCEA

Always a good time when you get ACE XV friends together
(And the ACE HH was amazing!)

Over the two days, I ended up attending some good sessions, and I also had the opportunity to present about how to engage our Catholic school students in their weekly/monthly Masses. The presentation stemmed from my grad school work, and I was originally encouraged to apply by one of my grad school supervisors. In looking back, I am so grateful for the push - it was a terrific experience (even though I was extremely nervous in the weeks leading up to it), and I believe the people who came walked away with some practical ideas to put into place in their own communities. In fact, I received an email yesterday from one of the attendees, and it truly made my day -->

Here are a couple of pics from the session - the principal I work with and some of my friends snapped some photos -->

I believe this was before the technology cut out...

Pretty sure I was praying for grace and peace at this point!

As teachers and leaders in Catholic schools, we need to constantly seek opportunities, both formal and informal, to renew our commitment, zeal, and hope for our work with the young people in our care. So, in my humble opinion, what probably is the most fruitful thing that came from the conference is the boost of energy and ideas for everyone who attended NCEA - the timing of being right near the end of the school year could not have been better as we make the final stretch toward summer and we work to keep it meaningful, rigorous, and joyful. 

I am so proud and blessed to be working in Catholic education - I believe that just as it was a gift for me growing up, our Catholic schools are a gift to the students who come through our doors each and every day. For all of my fellow Catholic school educators - keep up the good work! And know you are in my prayers.

We are all connected

A forwarded email from my mom: "Mitch Albom is coming to Chicago."

Exciting news, yes, but I left it alone for awhile. There were already too many things on my plate this week...

And then Facebook invited me to an event with Mitch Albom in Chicago.

I decided I couldn't ignore it anymore. My heart told me I should sign up.

I didn't know who of my friends was a Mitch Albom fan, so I did something slightly uncharacteristic - I bought a single ticket to the event, and I took myself. (Maybe I'm getting a tad more adventurous in my old age.)

I'm glad I bought that ticket. What a night...

Not only is Mitch Album an incredibly gifted storyteller on paper; he is a very engaging speaker. The audience was laughing, crying, and everything in between. This event was part of his book tour for his latest release, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven (sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven), yet he only spent a fraction of his time (about an hour and a half) actually talking about the book. He spent most of his time just telling us his story, sharing the people and the interactions (however seemingly small) that brought him to how he was standing in front of us that evening.

And we are all where we are right now due to the people and interactions we experienced in our own lives. For myself, a few easily come to mind (as I am sure some easily come to mind for you)...

*My high school was run by the Salesian priests and brothers. During my time there, they helped me develop my spirituality and relationship with God. In college, I ended up working at a Salesian summer camp, and during ACE I worked at a Salesian school. Their charism helped shape the teacher and leader I have become.

*At my parish growing up, an ACE teacher joined our choir because we sang the same "Our Father" as the Notre Dame Folk Choir. Through her (and ACE teachers at my high school), my sister and I learned about the ACE program, and we ended up applying and completing the program after college. The friends I met through the program are some of the greatest people I know, and they have taught me many things over the past 10 years. I don't know where I would be right now if I didn't do the ACE teaching program.

*In college, my sister and I took a class with a girl who was part of a morning running group. When she learned that we ran occasionally with our family, she invited us to join. The runners in that group were the ones who encouraged us to keep at the distance running and to run our first marathon, Disney. Since then I have run 6 other marathons (and my sister has run 7 other ones). How fortunate to have crossed paths with that college classmate during freshman year.

There are plenty of other examples - it's truly incredible, and I don't believe there is one string of cause and effect in one's life. (It's way too complicated for that!) But Mitch Albom's lesson to us was that we are all connected. Sometimes we affect another person's life, and we may not even realize it (or it happens way down the road/we never meet the person). It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

I love Mitch Albom for a number of reasons, but I think my number one reason is because he teaches such profound (yet, at the same time, simple) lessons through his books and articles about human relationships, loving others, and living a meaningful life.

Do yourself a favor and pick up one of his books if you haven't read one before. And, if you have read some/all of them, go back and re-read. I guarantee there's another layer of lessons to be uncovered. His books are those which you simultaneously want to devour and read slowly so as to absorb every word.

Happy reading!

Bonus: a few photos -->