Superintendent's Message

I will not forget you…
I have held you
in the
Palm of My Hand.
Isaiah 49:15

    Dear Friends of Catholic Education,

    The bumper sticker on the car in the grocery store parking lot said, “Don’t let the car fool you, my real treasure is in heaven.” 

    The car?  An Infiniti Q45.  I do not know exactly what message the owner intended to convey, but the words reminded me of a conversation we recently had in our office.

    Today, so much of education is focused on preparing students to be successful in the world.  While this certainly is important, and Catholic educators are concerned about this goal, as well, we must not lose sight of another purpose and goal for our ministry.  We must be about forming young people so that they develop their talents not for serving themselves, but for serving others and God.  Ultimately, we in Catholic schools should be about helping kids get to heaven (a sentiment beautifully expressed by one of our principals at our first Faith Leadership Institute).  If they graduate from Harvard and earn a six-figure income (and drive an Infiniti Q45!) along the way, great, but the goal is heaven.

    When Jim’s and my five children were in high school, we began talking to them in earnest about developing their talents.  We never mentioned that dreaded sentence, “It looks good on a college application.”  Rather, we talked about the parable of the talents.  It seemed to us that if our kids focused on developing their talents to honor and serve God and others, the college acceptance letters (and later job offers, etc.) would take care of themselves.

    So that is our challenge as Catholic educators ~ to nurture the growth of the talents of the children in our care for the dual purpose of serving God and others on this earth and for joining Him in heaven.  How can we accomplish such an awesome task?  By remembering to rely on God and to take care of our own spiritual lives so that we see each student as a child of God and each student feels the touch of Jesus through our hands.

Pray for us.

¡Vaya con Dios!

Kathleen (Kathy) A. O’Hara, Ph.D.

Other thoughts from the Superintendent....

From an early age, students integrate their faith (The Leaven Vol. 31, No. 28 Feb. 26, 2010)

Catholic schools help kids encounter the world through the lens of faith (The Leaven Vol. 31, No. 20 Dec. 25, 2009)

Catholic schools combine faith and reason for the common goal (The Leaven Vol. 31, No. 12 Oct. 23, 2009)

Church's contribution to society both deep and wide (The Leaven Vol. 31, No. 5 Aug. 28, 2009)

Parents' letters attest to what we strive for (The Leaven Vol. 30, No. 28 March 6, 2009)

'Whole Child' focus nothing new to Catholic schools (The Leaven Vol. 30, No. 19 Dec. 26, 2008)

Academic success built on the bedrock of spiritual formation (The Leaven Vol. 30, No. 12 Oct. 24, 2008)

Success stories illustrate the spirit of our schools (The Leaven Vol. 30, No. 5 Aug. 28, 2008)

Special-needs children enrich our Catholic schools (The Leaven Vol. 29, No. 36 May 2, 2008)

Catholic schools do it all - and more (The Leaven Vol. 29, No. 29 March 7, 2008)

Catholic schools: An investment in both our earthly and eternal futures (The Leaven Vol. 29, No. 23 Jan. 25, 2008)

The best gift a parent can give: a Catholic education (The Leaven Vol. 29, No. 17 Dec. 7, 2007)

Catholic school staff really does make a difference (The Leaven Vol. 29, No. 11 Oct. 19, 2007)

Catholic schools are first and foremost commitments of faith (The Leaven Vol. 29, No. 6 Sept. 14, 2007)

Catholic schools must be a work in progress (The Leaven Vol. 28, No. 37 May 4, 2007)

Volunteer board members critical to success of Catholic schools (The Leaven Vol. 28, No. 31 March 16, 2007)

Focus family life around values that last a lifetime (The Leaven Vol. 28, No. 25 Feb. 2, 2007)

Toughest job imaginable is also one of the most important (The Leaven Vol. 28, No. 17 Nov. 24, 2006)

Catholic school principals lead by spiritual example (The Leaven Vol. 28, No. 11 Oct. 13, 2006)

New school year launched with beautiful Eucharist (The Leaven Vol. 28, No. 5 Sept. 1, 2006)

Are we teaching our kids life's most important lessons (The Leaven Vol. 27, No. 38 May 12, 2006)

Catholic schools are still delivering miracles (The Leaven Vol. 27, No. 30 March 10, 2006)

Catholic schools a unique partnership between educators, parents (The Leaven Vol. 27, No. 24 Jan. 27, 2006)

Teachers 'on fire' with their faith critical to Catholic school success (The Leaven Vol. 27, No. 13 Oct. 28, 2005)

Bishops see Catholic school mission still central to U.S. Church (The Leaven Vol. 27, No. 4 Sept. 2, 2005)

Catholic values should permeate Catholic school curriculums (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 32 April 18, 2005)

Change is unavoidable if our schools are to remain vital (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 27 Feb. 18, 2005)

Teachers love what they do, but need support (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 24 Jan. 28, 2005)

Like a family's, school traditions can benefit from a little 'updating' (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 19 Dec. 17, 2004)

Learning to cope means recognizing God has a plan (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 14 Nov. 5, 2004)

KU students see schools 'walk the talk' (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 10 Oct. 8, 2004)

Super sees back-to-school through rookie's eyes (The Leaven Vol. 26, No. 5 Sept. 3, 2004)

Teaching: It isn't as easy as it looks (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 38 May 14, 2004)

Easter preparations recall our ultimate goal (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 34 April 9, 2004)

Overscheduling kids serves neither them nor our mission (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 30 March 12, 2004)

New Superintendent finds much to love about her job (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 26 Feb. 13, 2004)

Keeping focus on our mission (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 22 Jan. 16, 2004)

It's never too late for faith formation (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 17 Nov. 28, 2003)

Faith talk: always important, never easy (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 13 Oct. 31, 2003)

Academics only part of school's mission; Jesus is the whole (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 9 Oct. 3, 2003)

Common vision critical to schools' success (The Leaven Vol. 25, No. 5 Sept. 5, 2003)