Faith and Community. Where Faith meets … everything!
We have recently partnered with a new marketing firm to highlight and showcase all that our Catholic schools have to offer. The firm that we chose, Redtag Digital, has been at work creating a new logo and a variety of graphics marketing messages. This work was based upon input gathered from focus groups made up of a robust representation of our stakeholders — principals, teachers, parents and those charged with marketing each of our elementary schools. The initial planning and research for this effort was guided by a Catholic School Marketing Team, led by Cecelia Price, our Chief Communication Officer, and made up of educators, Catholic Education Foundation leaders and others with a variety of backgrounds in marketing and administration. A smaller sub-committee interviewed marketing firms, selected Redtag Digital and worked with our new marketing partner to finalize the messages and graphics you will begin to see.
Why is this important to Catholic Schools Week? The elements of the CSW theme, “United in Faith and Community,” also surfaced as critical values for the stakeholders we consulted. Parents expressed their appreciation for Catholic education as they described the opportunities Catholic schools provide for their children to pray together, learn together and grow together in a community of faith. Parents and educators spoke about the foundation of faith on which our schools thrive thanks to the sacrifices and contributions of those who have come before us. The messaging you will begin to see has the word “faith” as an integral part of each message. It will not be an afterthought or absent from how we present ourselves to the public.
Every day that a Catholic school door is open to a student, an opportunity exists that we cannot take for granted. Our responsibility to our students is to ensure that they encounter Christ in their community daily. The values inherent in a Catholic education become the cornerstones of its mission and reason for existence. We know our students benefit from a foundation that is secure in values that both family and school consistently model and support.
We have so much to celebrate during Catholic Schools Week, and each community will do that in many ways. Even if you no longer are in relationship with a Catholic school, I ask two things of you.
One, please continue to pray for the success of our schools in sharing the message of Jesus Christ to the students. Secondly, please think about one person you may know who is involved in Catholic education — a pastor, teacher, principal or other staff and let them know you appreciate their work with our young people so that we can continue building our church of the future.
Without faith at the center, our schools do not live their mission. We are all challenged to “live the mission of our faith” in all that we do, but especially in preparing our students to lead in future years with the value of faith strongly at their center.
