Preparing teachers for the new school year

The Office of Catholic Schools held their in-service, in-person, for the first time in three years. Some 300 diocesan and parochial teachers had met virtually every year since the start of the pandemic. This year they gathered in the Cafetorium at St. John Paul II High School for two days of spiritual and professional development in August. 

The event began with the celebration of Mass by newly ordained Father Charles Silvas, who happens to be a product of Catholic Schools and an alumnus of St. John Paul High School. 

In his homily Father Silvas compared the building of a bird’s nest to making the school, a home, “You can’t have a home, a nest, if you can’t work with broken branches. Students come from different backgrounds, contexts, situations, difficult family dynamics, etc. It’s within our weaknesses, imperfections, and brokenness that the Lord has not only called us but wants to find a home and rest his head within us.” 

 “We have been entrusted with the special responsibility of helping our young people reach their potential: by meeting them where they are; educating them and building them up; and creating an environment where our schools can be a place where they can feel at home.” 

 “What we do here is very important because it’s through the young people who we teach and form that many others will be affected, people we don’t even know because our young people are the agents through whom God wants to make His good shown to the world and bring into to the world. And it begins with us,” Father Silvas said. Opportunities like this help us to once again encounter in a new way the Lord’s invitation to follow him and his presence in our lives so that we can be his presence.”

Father Peter Marsalek, General Priest Servant from the Society of the Most Holy Trinity, gave two presentations in the morning and two in the afternoon. His first topic focused on what St. Thomas Aquinas said about living in the image and likeness of God. “All human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, but do you think every person lives in the image and likeness of God?” Father Marsalek asked. “It’s a dynamic reality to be lived and not merely a static truth about who we are. St. Thomas says it is when we’re actually knowing and loving him and being in communion with him that we are living in His image and likeness. 

“You can say your primary purpose —the reason why a Catholic school exists in the first place is so that you can help them to know God, love God and live in communion with Him,” Father Marsalek added. “So that they will be maximizing their God-given capacity to live in the image and likeness of God,” Father Marsalek said.

Later that morning, he spoke about sharing God’s Word in Catholic education. His afternoon topics were Natural Law in Catholic Education and Catholic formation into authentic freedom.

On Aug. 9, guest speaker and licensed psychologist Dr. Richard Grant challenged teachers to learn about themselves and their personality types by answering several questions. Their answers aided them in discovering their personality type. They were then asked to share their strength and weaknesses with their cohorts. 

Teachers learned that through self-discovery and sharing, teachers can collaborate with each other’s opposite to reach a broader range of students —especially those with similar opposite personalities.

Overall, teachers felt it was a great tool to learn about themselves and how to become more effective teachers. 

After the completion of the in-service, ten diocesan and parochial schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi received STEM Lego Kits assembled for their various grade levels thanks to a grant written by Dr. Rosemary Henry, superintendent of Catholic Schools.