Catholic Schools offer labor of love

Forty-five years ago this month I walked into what was then Sacred Heart School in Corpus Christi to begin what I knew would be a short-lived teaching job as I waited for my “ship” to come in. That was on a Thursday and by the weekend I was in love—with the fifth graders, with teaching and with the three Sisters of the Incarnate Word who lived in the nearby convent. Their company and their mentoring and their great example are what helped to make me the person and teacher I am today.

Another of the many memorable gifts from those years was the love and support of the families, several of whom I have now taught second and third generations. Sacred Heart was basically a low socio-economic school and many of the parents struggled to pay the tuition. The sisters also regularly took in quite a few students who could pay almost nothing.

The sisters’ help for these students went beyond tuition; used uniforms were carefully mended, washed and pressed, and given to boys and girls. Lunches were often given to those who could not afford the school lunch and extra food was sent home for the families. All of these everyday kindnesses made an indelible mark on my heart.

After six years of teaching, I entered the convent of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word; one of my hopes was to follow in the footsteps of those three sisters.

Two different times I was assigned to Christ the King School, first as a fourth grade teacher and then, a few years later, as principal. During that first time as a teacher, my principal, also an Incarnate Word Sister, was equally concerned about the families who struggled to give their children a good Catholic education. She was a frequent visitor to homes in the nearby housing project where she spent time counseling with families and encouraging them to come to Mass and be instructed in the sacraments.

She resembled my Sacred Heart principal in that they both often hired mothers to help as aides in the classrooms; the salaries were small, of course, but they helped the family economy, often considerably. Both sisters had an eye for talent in those mothers and encouraged the teachers to give them greater responsibility until they were able to handle the classes competently in the teachers’ absences. They changed many lives in this way.

In 1986, I was again assigned to Sacred Heart School, which had become Central Catholic Elementary after the bishop merged it with Cathedral School. Many of the same problems were still there: families that could not pay full tuition, teacher salaries that were at the poverty level, needed repairs that could not be done and classroom supplies that really could not be afforded.

But, once again, the positives far outweighed the negatives. It was a joy to teach the students; the families, by and large, were deeply appreciative of all that was done to help their children and so willing to pitch in and help with school upkeep, carnivals and other fundraisers; and the teachers gave their very best and took part in many extra-curricular activities without stipends.

So many of the teachers over the years have commented that there was much more than just the money—there was a great satisfaction and joy that came from being part of a Catholic school and the atmosphere created there. For that matter, go to any Catholic school and see how many of their teachers have been there for many years because of what exists in the whole picture: love, prayer, the presence of Jesus in the classroom and the knowledge that all of it is in the hands of God.