Photos courtesy of UIW Brainpower Connection
Recently, at St. Mary Magdalen Dual Language Catholic School (SMMS) in San Antonio, TX, a usually joyful mom was downcast when dropping off her son. She shared that since Pope Francis died, she had felt off. “He’s a big reason we chose this school.” Her grandparents were from Mexico, she shared. While her parents also spoke Spanish, the language did not get passed down to her. “My son’s here because I want to give him the bilingual superpower I never had. Yesterday, he started singing Alabaré when the family was over for dinner, and my parents were beaming. Soon, everyone joined in.” As she shared this, she beamed, too.
Since 2013, versions of this dinner scene have occurred many times in the SMMS community. The school’s leap into dual language education coincided with the Archbishop of Buenos Aires’ election to the papacy. SMMS received Francis’ message of going out to the margins and building bridges to serve all, or as the Holy Father said, “todos, todos, todos” as if he was physically pushing the school out of its doors and comfort zones and into the world. Since its dual language launch, SMMS has grown from 98 students with families from 19 zip codes and a single country to 503 students with families from 77 zip codes, 24 countries, and 4 continents.
Catholic and non-Catholic families choose this model for their young learners for its many unique advantages, from cognitive to cultural to communication based. In the Catholic context, bilingual education also expands access for underserved communities otherwise marginalized by language barriers; fosters in its students empathy, solidarity, and inclusive excellence, values deeply rooted in Catholic social teaching; and furthers professional opportunities and service through intercultural understanding.
For Francis, educating youth was an act of hope. Similarly, the multilingual Pope Leo XIV, who lived and served in the U.S. and Peru, ascribes to the Augustinian view of education as a holistic endeavor integrating the wider community. With a pastoral approach, Augustinians emphasize student understanding “of the world, of life and of humanity that is enlightened by faith.” As educators, this is a tenet to consider as part of a holistic strategy for the future of Catholic education. To provide transformative, faith-driven education that shapes the whole person to live in unity with a wider, diverse community is to be set apart in the education landscape. To do so while preparing students to thrive and recognize the presence of God in others in a diverse and multilingual world is to educate in Francis’ spirit of hope.
For SMMS, this hopeful education has been expanding. In 2018, SMMS joined the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) Brainpower Connection, a circle of support, influence, and collegiality among select local Catholic elementary and high schools that, together with the university, offer programming spanning PreK – Ph.D. Vision, faculty, and facilities are shared to break barriers among elementary schools, high schools, and universities. Partnering with UIW, SMMS teachers have increased access to bilingual education graduate courses, professional development from university faculty with bilingual education expertise, and classroom observations and feedback from professors and graduate students. SMMS students have gained the opportunity to learn with and from students attending UIW’s schools in Mexico, participate in service projects, and engage in university and high school presentations and events related to Latin American culture.
Perhaps most impactfully, SMMS students will now be able to continue their bilingual education at St. Anthony’s Catholic High School (SACHS). Until recently, no Catholic high school in San Antonio, and very few throughout the U.S., could support their continued bilingual education and faith formation. Via a first-of-its-kind program, SACHS’ Spanish dual language track offers a pathway to building communication skills and cultural competency in the Catholic tradition and a college preparatory environment. Beginning their junior year, students may receive college credit for their coursework. At this secondary education level, the program offers traditional bilingual education benefits and yields even more, coupled with a Catholic curriculum, encouraging the discovery of students’ unique callings in the Church and the world. In the context of Catholic social teaching, bilingual education is a powerful tool to broaden and deepen students’ understanding of social issues like dignity, justice, peace, and the common good. Often this takes the form of service in diverse communities, which, in San Antonio and many U.S. cities, includes large Spanish-speaking populations. Such encounters dismantle linguistic barriers, expand perspectives, and increase compassion.
At the conclusion of the four-year program at SACHS, students can graduate with a better understanding of their place in the global Church, as well as a Certificate of Biliteracy. Beyond this, they may seek to continue their unique journeys and formation in a Catholic university that values multiculturalism and multilingualism.
UIW’s mission to educate concerned and enlightened citizens bridges linguistic and cultural divides while enhancing academic achievement and professional development. Examples can be found throughout the curriculum and in its many experiential opportunities. Its Feik School of Pharmacy prepares future pharmacists to offer culturally competent care, and training in pharmaceutical Spanish is incorporated into the Doctor of Pharmacy degree. UIW also offers dual degree programs across its campuses in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as opportunities to enhance professional language skills while learning and serving others via mission trips in Texas and Mexico.
Pope Francis and bilingual education have inspired and equipped the UIW Brainpower Connection to forge bonds across families, countries, and continents. In his first speech as Pope, Francis said, “It seems that my brother Cardinals have come almost to the ends of the Earth to get him ... but here we are.” Undoubtedly, building such connections with “todos, todos, todos” can be daunting, like going to the ends of the earth. Yet, the fruits of those bonds make it worth it, and we, as educators, ensure that future generations can sing out “Alabaré.”
William Dailyis principal of St. Mary Magdalen Dual Language Catholic School, Archdiocese of San Antonio.william.daily@stmmsa.org
Thomas M. Evans, Ph.D.is president of the University of the Incarnate Word, Archdiocese of San Antonio.presidentsoffice@uiwtx.edu
Marissa Rodriguezis director of presidential communications, University of the Incarnate Word, Archdiocese of San Antonio.marodr33@uiwtx.edu