It is with great enthusiasm and gratitude that we conclude
2016 Catholic Schools Week!
This week always arrives at the perfect time for me and
gives me so many reasons to pause and be thankful for the blessings I have had
in my life and career in Catholic education.
As if my career was not blessing enough, I now leave my house each
morning and arrive home each night knowing my daughter is educated by some of
the most passionate, inspiring, and faithful people I could ever imagine. That's a gift!
This week as I reflected I thought of how proud I am of our
wonderful students and the many contributions of all those who make Catholic
education possible: dedicated teachers, our cafe and maintenance staff,
secretaries, volunteers, committed parents, and board members who all provide
excellent leadership and stewardship of our Catholic, Marianist mission.
Thank you for all you do to support Catholic education!
This week as we hosted Back-to-School Night and prepared to
send off our acceptance letters to the Class of 2020 I could not help but think
of how blessed Vianney is to have the most dedicated and talented faculty in
Missouri! Parent after parent approached me on Tuesday night saying how excited
THEY were to spend time with our teachers.
How excited THEY were to learn about the course content, projects, and
brain-based learning! It reaffirmed what
I have known for 5 years. Vianney is
blessed with great educators!
The amount of work and energy our teachers pour into their
work and into educating our students is astonishing! It is a crime that they
don’t all make $550K a year. Since they couldn’t possibly do it for the
money, I can only assume they love their job and love our young men. I
hope they know how much I appreciate them for that!
Thank you Vianney faculty & staff!
Thank you for
insisting on kindness and respect, excellence and persistence! Thank you for
sometimes saying, “This work is garbage and you can do better." Thank you
for making our young men tuck in their shirt, sending them to the office to
shave, and calling them out when they are wrong! Thanks for constantly
requiring their best.
After nine years in
administration I guess it's safe to assume my career has officially ended as a
classroom teacher. But as someone who
sees the quality of students our faculty produce year after year, it NEVER
escapes me how magnificent you all are!
I've seen you in your brilliance and in your most difficult
times.
I've seen you instruct our students that struggle as much as
you have celebrated the success of those who achieve remarkable feats.
I know there are students battling academic and personal
struggles and I've marveled at your tireless patience with them. I know they
require so much of you in the midst of your regular responsibilities, and your
patient attentiveness cannot possibly be over-celebrated.
Please remember, at least during this Catholic Schools
Week, that you are so respected, so important! Your work impacts your
students for the rest of their lives.
I am 36-years-old and still talking about my old teachers:
Mrs. Meltner, Doug Thaman, Mrs. Meyer,
Mr. Mana, and even Sister Louise
Wagner. Educators don’t get the credit they deserve, so I am standing
up today, applauding YOU, cherishing YOUR investment in the next generation.
I see the incredible amount of work YOU do, and I am forever grateful! YOU are heroes; there is no lesser designation.
Please remember when
you are grading papers at 10:30pm on Sunday night, or tweeting another incredible
idea, or writing our students another encouraging note or letter of
recommendation, or updating your website, I see you, I appreciate you,
and I think our school is abundantly blessed to have you!
Your life matters so
much and your legacy will go on long after you’re done teaching. You are
sending out visionaries, thinkers, activists, and leaders into the world, and
I owe you a debt of gratitude that I can never repay.
Happy Catholic
Schools Week! You are amazing! From the bottom of my heart, Thank you!
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