Good news stories are happening in Catholic schools across the country! Let NCEA know what is happening with your school so that we may share on NCEA Talk, social media and in the pages of Momentum. Visit www.NCEA.org/shareyourstory to submit your good news today!
Archdiocese of New York
For living up to the mission of Catholic school education, Marco LaVecchia (second from left) received congratulations and praises from his elementary school, Immaculate Conception, and his high school, Salesian High School! Making Eagle Scout is a big accomplishment that clearly Marco is well suited for. His culminating project was to build 12 bat houses for the Westchester Parks Foundation to encourage regrowth of the decimated bat population in Westchester County. Marco will continue his impressive educational career at Cornell University in the fall.
Archdiocese of Chicago
The dream of an urban garden has long existed at Academy of St. Benedict. What began as a civic action project for a doctoral program has materialized into a vibrant garden! Backyard Gardens Englewood installed the raised beds and planted with St. Benedict School to create the abundance harvested in the spring. Our scholars planted, harvested and tasted greens like kale, spinach and collard greens. With enthusiasm, they pulled carrots! Witnessing this through the eyes of a little one is so moving!
The school has veggies and greens in the free lunch program that don’t get eaten at a high rate; but whatever is pulled from the garden, the children are ready to try and like, including tomatoes, watermelon and cucumbers.
Expanding opportunities to learn outside of the classroom has always been a desire of St. Benedict’s. Seeing it in action is amazing! In the heart of one of the most poverty-stricken and violent neighborhoods in Chicago, the Academy of St. Benedict is the safe haven that blooms!
Diocese of Toledo
Fueled by a $1 million donation to St. Francis de Sales School, an all-boys Catholic school for grades 7 through12 in Toledo, students and school leaders, in partnership with the Toledo Lucas County Public Library (TLCPL), are expanding an existing reading program, Reading Buddies, to address literacy issues in the community. Tom Lauer, a 1967 alumnus and philanthropist residing in Boston, and his wife, Helene, made the single largest gift to the school in its 67-year history. Their gift will further incorporate service and leadership to the Toledo community as a meaningful part of their educational experience at St. Francis. Tom Lauer stated: “We are pleased that our investment allows the school to scale the impact of the Reading Buddies program by partnering with other organizations to address the problem of literacy among young children, where our students can do the most good. And we hope this experience encourages a commitment to service among St. Francis students where they can learn communication skills, patience and empathy.” The leadership team, faculty and students at St. Francis are all working diligently to be a part of a societal issue, literacy.
Diocese of Rochester
A silver lining to the pandemic was prioritizing our use of technology as a learning tool. In the Diocese of Rochester, our Catholic schools leveraged this growing comfort with online meeting tools to launch virtual PLC groups in the spring of 2021 to allow for regular gatherings of gradelevel teachers in virtual meeting spaces. Virtual options for meetings helped us overcome the barrier of geography in bringing our teachers together (we have schools located more than 2.5 hours apart) and, since most of our schools only have one section of each grade-level, this allowed teachers to collaborate with grade-level teachers outside of their building. Each of our 35 PLC groups are led by one of our teachers, who have greatly expanded the instructional leadership capacity of our team and emerged as a fleet of energetic, faith-filled, and innovative leaders within our schools. Learn more about our Virtual PLC Project here: Rochester Diocese teachers connect, learn together online - Catholic Courier
Diocese of Grand Rapids
Celebrating 30 years of continuous Adoration during school hours, the West Catholic High School chapel in Grand Rapids, Michigan brings students face to face with our Lord in the Eucharist. In the midst of this vibrant high school, the chapel’s peaceful atmosphere has offered students a place to deepen their prayer life. Inspired by the mystery of the Real Presence, senior Caleb Haskell sought out experts in the community who could teach him more about the meaning of the Eucharist. The result? He produced a short video series for his peers (grwestcatholic.org/reverence-eucharist-video-series), exploring what Catholics believe about the Eucharist and the proper response to God’s sacrificial gift.
Archdiocese of New York
St. Patrick’s School in Yorktown Heights, NY, is honored to announce that it has been voted “Best Preschool 2022” by the readers of Westchester Magazine. This is the third straight year St. Patrick’s School has won a goldlevel award.
The span of developmental years from early childhood through adolescence provides an environment for opportunities of growth in all areas of development. At St. Patrick’s School everyone is committed to giving students every advantage possible as they grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually as children of God.
Diocese of Sioux City
There is good news at Kuemper Catholic School, a PK-12 system of 1,150 students in rural western Iowa in the town of Carroll of the Sioux City Diocese. Embarking on a major capital campaign this spring called Faith Forward with a $6.5 million goal, the campaign reached the $9 million mark this summer boosting the school’s teacher salary enhancement and student tuition assistance funds and various renovation projects. In addition, the school’s annual spring Friends of Kuemper Ball raised a record $705,000 for annual operations.
Archdiocese of Omaha
Margaret Swanson’s journey at St. Cecilia began when she was a student at St. Cecilia Grade School and then continued as she attended Cathedral High School. She later returned to the grade school where she taught first grade for forty-one years. Margaret was well-known for her soft-spoken and kind demeanor, as well as her unending patience. Walking into her classroom students instantly felt the love and respect that radiated as Margaret taught young students how to read and pray the Rosary. Sharing her faith with students brought her such joy and is something students never forgot. Margaret was a mentor to countless teachers, as her vocation was undoubtedly a gift to share. Above all, she understood that teaching was beyond academics and that loving her students was her most important job.
In 2019, Margaret lost a fiercely fought battle with cancer and she is still greatly missed. Now this fall, her spirit will live on as her granddaughter, Maddi Swanson, will begin her first year teaching at St. Cecilia as a kindergarten teacher. Maddi will not only be teaching at St. Cecilia, but in the exact classroom of her grandmother. Having Maddi at St. Cecilia truly feels like divine intervention and it is certain that Margaret will be guiding her every step of the way.