Category: Mission & Catholic Identity

Research consistently demonstrates that when teenagers take ownership of their faith, it transforms into a deeply personal and meaningful aspect of their lives.

Does your school have a story to tell about a student who goes above and beyond the required service hours to affirm the concepts of virtues, valor and vision?

By focusing on listening, Catholic educators can help students shape their own faith, making it more personal and meaningful. Listening lays the groundwork for trust and meaningful conversation, which is where true faith formation happens. 

It’s not the grand gestures or the big moments that leave a lasting imprint on our students’ hearts of what being a Catholic means. It’s in the small stuff, how we communicate and treat one another each day that stays with them.

For young people especially, a central tenet begins to emerge when it comes to their religious lives: belonging precedes believing, not the other way around.

Despite shifts in the percentage of Catholic students, our commitment remains unwavering: we are Catholic schools first.

An ideal formative religious assessment should measure both the “head” knowledge and the “hands and heart” knowledge of our Catholic faith—the destination and the journey.

NSBECS Benchmark 9.3 states, “Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities provide opportunities outside the classroom for each student to further identify and develop gifts and talents and to enhance creative, aesthetic, social/emotional, physical, and spiritual capabilities.” It seems to me that we have work to do together to align our school-sponsored sports programs with this benchmark of best practice for Catholic schools.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, our gratitude for God’s grace is abundant for the gift of Catholic schools whose doors are open.