Welcome to the new school year! All 48 of our school communities have been busy at work this summer preparing for the 2024-2025 school year.
We want this to be the best year ever for your child, and our schools take great pride and care to ensure that the transition back to school for your child is as smooth as possible. Butterflies, nerves and readjusting to different schedules are all a part of this transition. There will be tears for some of our students (and parents, too!) as our children navigate a new chapter in their growth and development.
Our theme for the 2024-2025 school year is “Listen. Teach. Send. Fostering a Faithful Community.”
With all the distractions constantly vying for our attention, listening sometimes seems to be a lost art. We don’t have time, we are on a schedule, we move from one task to another to accomplish things on the “to-do-list.”
For Catholic school teachers and administrators, before we can teach or send, we must listen first to better understand the needs of the student before us. How can we walk side-by-side with our students to better understand their challenges, thoughts, feelings and desires?
In the Gospel story of the road to Emmaus, Jesus accompanies two disciples on the road as they are walking to the town of Emmaus. They journey together as Jesus listens to their realities, teaches them and speaks to their hearts. Jesus models accompaniment in this Gospel story.
As teachers and parents, the ability to truly listen is the best gift we can give children as they navigate the challenges of growing up. We must accompany them on their journey to become Catholic Christian adults and leaders for our future church and society.
Listening requires that we invest more into our relationships with others. Consider a distinction made between listening and hearing in a blog post from the Eblin Group.
Hearing is described in this way:
- The focus is on you.
- Your goal is to wrap up and move on.
- You feel distracted or impatient.
- You interrupt to tell your thoughts.
Listening, on the other hand, is described this way:
- Your focus is on the connection between you and the other person.
- Your goal is to learn more about the other person.
- You feel connected and relaxed.
- You observe with your eyes and are comfortable with silence to build on what is said.
For a teacher with a classroom of students, finding that sweet spot, where students feel they are truly being listened to, can be a challenge. After all, the responsibility of connecting with 20 or more students on a given day can seem impossible. However, a master teacher makes that happen.
As a parent, how do you ensure that you take time every day to be present and listen to your child? As a parent of an adolescent many years ago, it was the car ride to and from activities that resulted in a time and space of connection. As your child grows and changes, the place and time will look different every year.
The partnership between teacher, student, parent and school is a critical foundation for the success of any child or young person in a school community. Our teachers need your support; you need the support of the teacher and school community. The teachings of Jesus Christ create a common vision for our students with a set of common values that form a solid foundation from which to grow and learn.
Listening starts with availability. As we begin the new school year together, just as Jesus was available and present with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, let us make time for one another, our children and students, so they may feel what the two disciples felt when in the presence of Jesus.
He was present, listened patiently and modeled compassion, hope and respect. These are the values we also wish to teach and model for our young people so that when we send them forth, they in turn do the same.
