The Master Weaver Prayer

During this past five and a half months of social distancing and staying home as much as possible, I have been able to focus on one of my favourite activities…weaving! I have been busy honing my skills through digging into books and magazines that I have purchased over the past few years and through participation in an online weaving guild. I have spent many hours on my loom at home gently beating away producing new cloth. I have woven scarves, many tea towels and I am currently working on a beautiful prayer shawl. My time at the loom is peaceful and prayerful.

I have been especially focused on prayers for my teacher colleagues, for those providing leadership, for all school staff members, for students returning to the classroom and those who will be learning from home. I have prayed for parents and for families and especially for good health and wellness for all. 

As I weave, I am reminded of a poem this has been around for quite some time. It reminds me that we are called to surrender our plans and trust in God, our Master Weaver.

Our lives are but fine weavings, that God and we prepare, each life becomes a fabric planned, and fashioned in his care . . . We may not always see, just how the weavings intertwine, but we must trust the Master’s hand, and follow His design. For He can view the pattern, upon the upper side, while we must look from underneath, and trust in Him to guide.

Sometimes a strand of sorrow, is added to His plan, and though it’s difficult for us, we still must understand that it’s He who flies the shuttle, it’s He who knows what’s best, so we must weave in patience, and leave to Him the rest… Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly, shall God  unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needed, in the Weaver’s skillful hand, as the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern He has planned.

Author Unkown

I pray that we may persevere and trust in God’s plan as we wait patiently for a time more like normal to return.

Summer Learning

By now, you should have received your child’s report card through your email. If you have not received it or are unable to access the report card, please contact our school office immediately. The office is open until June 30, closing for summer beginning July 1, 2020. 

I had the pleasure of reading almost every student report card at Our Lady of the Assumption School and I was so impressed to hear how each and every student continued with their learning in one form or another during these past few months. Thank you, parents for your continued support of your children and of our school. As I read through each report card, the one thing that stood out to me was the love that each teacher expressed for every student. I have always known that each child is a precious gift from God and that we are called to treasure and nurture each child accordingly. Each report card was a prayer for your child, a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of blessing and a prayer of petition that we may all be back learning together in good health soon. 

During the summer we all need to take a much needed break from the grind of structured online learning. However, we never stop learning! I would invite each family to continue to be attentive to opportunities to apply and extend the learning that has been provided by the school over these past few months. Reading for pleasure, writing in a journal or writing to others are life long habits. Even though we like to think that ‘math is hard,” when we open our eyes to math in our world we can see examples all around us to think mathematically and to apply math to our daily lives. 

One great example is the family that had their children plan, plant and care for a garden in their yard. The children were involved in measuring, planning, calculating and budgeting in order to plant their garden. After a season of tending to their garden and praying for good growing conditions, the family will be able to reap their bounty. 

Mrs. Meghan Calder will be taking over as Principal here at Our Lady of the Assumption School right away. She is eager and excited to meet all of you. She has been working with us here over the past few weeks as we plan for School Re-Entry in September. Watch for news and updates later in the summer for more details on what this will look like for our school.  

I wish you all the best for a wonderful summer break. Continue to pray together as a family and please remember to keep our staff in your prayers,  pray for good health in our world and thank God for all of our blessings. We are all praying for you. 

Happy Summer! Preparing for Back to School

Today is the last day of classes for the 2019-2020 school year! This year, we are truly thankful for accomplishing all that we have through challenging times. Our Year End Farewell Parade yesterday was a huge success. It was so nice to see all of your beautiful smiling faces and to see your love and support for the staff here at Our Lady of the Assumption School. This community is very special.

Today we gathered to celebrate all of the learning and fun throughout the school year.  It is nice to remember that we were here together for two thirds of the school year. We also celebrated our Grade 6 students who are moving on to Grade 7 next year. They will be dearly missed, and we wish everyone well in their next adventures. 

We are also saying farewell to some staff members. We wish Mrs. Clewes and Mrs.Roth all the best at their new school next year. Our caretaker, Mrs. Brooks has accepted a new position at St. Basil Catholic Education Centre. After serving our Assumption School Community for the past 30 years, it is hard to imagine OLA without her. 

We are very happy for Mrs. Miles and for Mrs. Parr who are each expecting babies soon. Mrs. Miles and Mrs. Parr plan to stay home and stay safe with their new additions during the coming school year. We wish them all the best blessings a new baby will bring!

Congratulations to Hailey and Evelyn for winning the attendance Bike Draw! Good attendance is such an important part of learning. We wish to send a huge thank you to our attendance Bike Draw sponsors, Adam Duel from Ascent Cycle, Heather Zimmerman from Ashcroft Master Builder Ltd. and Paul Kenway. 

Year end report cards will be sent through email by Thursday, June 25th. Due to the school closure over the past few months, year end report cards will look a little different than they have in previous years. Teachers will provide comments specific to the learning outcomes that have been addressed during the cancellation of classes, and anecdotal comments that address each student’s specific learning based on these outcomes. Students will receive comments based on teacher observations, conversations and products submitted in the areas of Religious Education, Language Arts and Mathematics.

The Holy Spirit Plan for Learning and Assessment during the cancellation of classes was shared earlier this spring and we are following the information provided in this message.

You can expect that your child will be progressing to their next Grade level in September. The original message provided by Adriana LaGrange, our Alberta Minister of Education stated that “All students who were on track to progress to the next grade will do so.” 

If you are unable to access your child’s report card through the pdf attachment in your email, please let the office know and we can make arrangements for you to receive a print copy. 

Along with your child’s year end report card, you should receive information regarding supplies for the 2020-20221 school year. Here is a link to the Supply Lists if you are hoping for a sneak peek. 

As was mentioned before, there are 3 possible scenarios for fall learning and only time will tell which scenario we will start the year with. In any case, numerous safety precautions and protocols will need to be in place to ensure safety of staff and students. The Alberta plans for School Re-entry in September state that a decision as to which scenario we will return to will be announced on August 1, 2020. Direction will come from the Government of Alberta based on guidance from Alberta Health Services.  

We are planning for classes to begin in one format or another on September 1, 2020. The full 2020 – 2021 school year calendar can be accessed on our school website. 

Continue to check your email over the coming days and weeks for additional information and updates.

OLA Year End Activities

Reminder of special events happening this week:

• Wednesday, June 17 – Whole School Liturgy on Google Meet
• Thursday, June 18 – Last Classroom Google Meet, Farewell Drive and Wave Parade
• Friday, June 19 – Year end slide show, Grade 6 Farewell and Bike Draw on Google Meet

More details can be found here.

New Playground Stencil Games

The Our Lady of the Assumption School Community would like to extend a huge thanks to the Lethbridge College Be Fit for Life and Building Brains Together for the bright new games painted in our school year!

Returning school materials and electronic devices:

We will be accepting returns of electronic devices and learning materials on June 22 – 24, 2020. First of all, one trip to the school per family is all that is needed. 

If your child has borrowed a laptop or ipad from the school, this will need to be returned on Monday, June 22 between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. When you return the electronic device, please bring all other school resources as well. This includes items such as Math or Social Studies textbooks, readers, library books for Grade 3 – 6 students.

If your child has not borrowed an electronic device from the school, their scheduled times for resource returns are as follows:

• Monday, June 22 – Grade 1D & 2/3M  9:00 – 11:00 am (see the schedule shared by your child’s teacher)
• Tuesday, June 23 – 9:00am – 12:00pm – 6N returns all resources
  1:00pm – 3:00pm – 5/6R returns all resources
• Wednesday, June 24 – 9:00 – 12:00 – 5B and 3T returns all resources
  1:00pm – 3:00pm – 4C returns all resources

We ask that parents, please help to do your part to assist with the physical distancing requirements of 2 Metres between people not living in the same household. Please do your drop off and then leave the area so that others can do their returns in safety. We are all so excited to see one another, but we still need to be very cautious to not spread Coronavirus unknowingly. We do want everyone to have a healthy and safe summer break!

Looking Toward the 2020-2021 School Year

As we look toward the 2020-2021 school year, we know that we are in for changes. During the past few months of emergency online learning, everyone has stepped up to ensure that great things are happening for our students. In talking to teachers this week, I am hearing numerous stories of students continuing to progress with their learning through these challenging times. When classes resume in the fall, things will be different no matter what. As you have heard, there are 3 possible scenarios for fall learning and only time will tell which scenario we will start the year with. In any case, numerous safety precautions and protocols will need to be in place to ensure safety of staff and students. Today, Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s Minister of Education, provided proposed plans for School Re-entry in September.  A decision as to which scenario we will return to will be announced on August 1, 2020. Direction will come from the Government of Alberta based on guidance from Alberta Health Services.  

At Our Lady of the Assumption School, we are blessed to have a bit of space to spread out in. Our student enrolment numbers are projected to decline from the current school year mainly because of a large Grade 6 cohort moving on to Grade 7 and a smaller number of students registered in the primary grades. Having some empty classrooms in the building will play a part in enabling students to physically distance from one another during their at-school learning time. 

On the other hand, the reduction in student enrolment has impacted our staffing. Unfortunately we will be saying goodbye to two of our excellent teachers. 

Mrs. Cindy Clewes and Mrs. Kelly Roth have both agreed to transfer to Father Leonard Van Tighem School in west Lethbridge. Although they are each looking forward to this new adventure, we will miss them dearly at Assumption School and they will miss all of you! 

Our class configurations for the 2020 – 2021 school year are:

• Kindergarten – Mrs. Bukatka
• Grade 1 – Mrs. Duke
• Grade 2 – Mrs. Orr
• Grade 3 – Mr. Tratch
• Grade 4 – Mrs. Nemecek
• Grade 5 – Mrs. Baptista / Mr. New
• Grade 6 – Ms. Nadeau
• Associate Principal – Mr. New
• Principal – Mrs. Calder

We are planning for classes to begin in one format or another on September 1, 2020. The full 2020 – 2021 school year calendar can be accessed on our school website. 

June Updates

Typically June is a very busy month at school with final evaluations, special field trips, swimming parties, sports day, celebrations and farewells. This year we are still very busy wrapping up the school year, but things are much different than what any of us are used to. As you have heard from our Superintendent, Mr. Ken Sampson, our last day for classes will be on Friday, June 19, 2020. We will use the week of June 22 to finalize report cards, collect textbooks, resources and digital devices from you and finalize any preparations for next year that we can. 

Even though students have been learning at home for the final 13 weeks of the school year, we believe that we all have much to celebrate and be proud of. Students, parents and our school staff have persevered through this time with great resolve and we have all learned and grown – especially in ways that we may not have planned or expected to! Our God is a God of surprise. We may think we want to be in control of our lives, but in times like these, we need to trust and let God’s plan unfold. 

Here are some of the special events we are planning for the end of the school year:
Friday, June 12 – Staff Professional Development Day – no class for students

Wednesday, June 17 – Year end whole school Liturgy 10:00 am on an online Google Meet. All families are invited and encouraged to attend. 

In the afternoon, staff members will go out for a Grade 6 Farewell Parade. We will visit the homes of Grade 6 students to drop off a small gift and congratulate each student from a safe distance. 

Thursday, June 18 – Each teacher will host a special online Homeroom Google Meet at 10:00 am. You are all invited for a final Drive By Parade from 11:30 am – 12:00 pm to celebrate the school year.   

June 19 -All families are invited to an online Google Meet for our year-end slide show and grade 6 farewell at 10:00 am. Following the slide shows, we will be drawing for our attendance awards. All students with attendance at or above 90% from September to March will have their name in a draw for a Bike from Ascent Cycle. We will draw for one bike for a student in Grade 1 -3 and a second bike for a student in Grade 4-6. We will also be making our Act Like Mary draws at this time. Students should be in attendance to receive their prizes. 

Watch for more information coming out this week outlining our plans for return of devices, textbooks and resources, distribution of report cards and plans for Back to School in September. 

May is the Month of Mary

Praying With Mary
a message from Joann Bartley,
Director of Religious Education for Holy Spirit Catholic Schools

May is the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Non-Catholics often misunderstand our devotion to Mary. We do not worship Mary – only God can be worshiped. But we do revere Mary as the Mother of our Lord. She was united with Jesus on earth as no other human being was or could be. In the book, The How-To Book of Catholic Devotions, Mike Aquilina and Regis J. Flaherty remind us that, “One of Jesus’ last actions from the cross was to give her to us as our mother.” This is clear in the passage of John 19:26-27: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” Aquilina and Flaherty say, “Mary, then, became the mother of all beloved disciples. The arms of the cross spread across time and history. We also are beloved disciples of Christ who stand at the foot of the cross.” This story reinforces that Christ is telling us that Mary is our mother too. In faith, we honour our parents as God commanded. Mary is the queen of all saints.

▪ Do Catholics Worship Mary Mother of God? by Ken Yasinski (video)

▪ Mary in Two Minutes by Busted Halo (video)

Here are some of the ways we are praying to Mary at Our Lady of the Assumption School. 

Heart of Mary Challenge
Students are challenged to write a message on a blue heart telling how they can act like Mary this month. A heart is used to symbolize the emotion of love. Humans have long associated the feeling of love with their heart. A blue heart can symbolize a deep and stable love, trust, harmony, peace and loyalty. 
When thinking of ways to be more like Mary, students could reflect on how they can open their heart, love everyone and act like Mary. 

 

Classroom Challenges
Throughout the month classrooms are including prayer, activities and challenges related to Mary. The Grade 4, 5, 6 Wellness Challenges include an Act Like Mary component such as planting a Mary Garden.

Catholic Education Week
Catholic Education Week is May 18-22. This week aligns with Ascension Thursday and Pentecost each year. You are all invited to virtually join in a special mass with Bishop McGrattan at 10 am on Wednesday, May 20. It will be live-streamed from Calgary. Watch for more details coming soon. 

Praying the Rosary 
Staff in Holy Spirit Catholic Schools are gathering virtually at noon each Friday in May to pray the rosary. On May 8 the school staff gathered in a Google Meet and prayed the sorrowful mysteries. This week we are hoping to join in at the division level to pray together with staff from other schools. 

Our Lady of the Assumption School Staff Retreat
There will be no classes for students on Tuesday, May 19 while our staff participates in our annual staff retreat. With the focus for our faith plan this year being, “Be mindful of God’s presence…Be prayerful.” we will gather for time to reflect and pray as we feed our own spiritual needs. We often lament that in our busy-ness we don’t have the time to do some of the most important things in our lives. It is crucial that we take this time to step back and nurture our spiritual wellness. 
As a highlight of our day, we are inviting families for a drive by parade at 11:30 am until noon. Staff who are in the building will step outside to greet you from a safe distance. Of course we will be respecting social distancing so we ask that you and your children stay in your car. We are looking forward to seeing your beautiful faces! 

Parent Survey Results May 2020

Parent Survey

Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses to our Parent Survey that was sent out last week. We received 72 responses and greatly appreciate your support and encouragement as we navigate our way through this new way of teaching and learning. 

Our first question asked about the time your child is taking to complete their learning tasks. 72% of the responses were “Just Right” and there was a pretty even split between “Too Much” and “Too Little.” There were numerous comments related to this question reminding us that many parents are either still going to work or are working at home and it can be very challenging to manage your childrens’ learning and your own commitments. This is indeed a very different and challenging time for all of us. 

One parent summed it up by saying, “I appreciate all the hard work the teachers and staff are putting in during this strange and unprecedented time. What a crazy time of history we are all living through. Thank you for all your care and effort.”

Parents expressed very strong support for the level of communication between school and home with 93% of respondents indicating it was ‘Just Right.” Our teachers are committed to reaching out and connecting with every child or their parent at least twice per week. This includes, Google Meets, Google Classroom, classroom webpages, phone calls, email, text messages, video lessons and feedback on assignments. In addition to learning time in Google Meets, students are appreciating the opportunity to interact face to face with their teachers and friends. Dr. Jody Carrington reminds that “we are wired for connection” and this is even more important for all of us during this difficult time of physically distancing.  One parent wrote: “I am thankful for the video calls with the teacher and other students every day. It keeps my son engaged in the school work and accountable to his teacher and not just me.”

In response to the question about the frequency of learning tasks, we saw that 83% of respondents were satisfied. There was an even split between “Not Enough” and “Just Right.” 

When asked about your child’s ability to accomplish the assigned tasks, almost 67% of respondents said “Yes.” Some parents feel that the work is too easy and others feel it is too hard.  This is actually a pretty good reflection of what we see every day in our face to face classrooms. Teachers are constantly working to meet the needs of all learners. When we are live and in person we constantly monitor student work and provide support where needed and extra tasks when appropriate. Elementary school teachers are usually drawn to teaching because we love working with students and we gain energy from their presence. We miss the students incredibly! 

We are doing our best to provide every opportunity for our students to continue to grow in Literacy, Numeracy and Faith. Most classes are integrating Science and Social Studies themes and have also included health and wellness activities as well, fully understanding that the mental and physical health of our children precedes academic learning. 

We greatly appreciate your feedback and will do slight adjustments based on some of your suggestions. I would like to echo the sentiments offered by a parent who said, “The teachers are doing amazing. The kids miss them so much! Keep it up, doing an awesome job in my opinion. I appreciate all the hard work & time that is going into continuing learning from a distance. Thank you for your dedication & commitment!”

Parents, THANK YOU for your dedication & commitment!

Welcome Lorelie Lenaour – Acting Principal

April 20, 2020 Message to Our Lady of the Assumption School Community

Easter Blessings, Our Lady of the Assumption Community!

In his Easter Sunday homily, Bishop McGrattan reminded us of the impact of living our faith especially in this time of physical separation from one another. He acknowledged that “our profession of faith through great insight and great intellect can bring people to the faith.” However, it is our strong conviction and simple witness of christian living, that allows Christ to come to us. Bishop McGrattan talked about the “exponential factor,” where one or two people pass their belief on to others through their words and actions. This is a great reminder and affirmation of the way we continue to help and support one another through this time of physical isolation.

The Diocese of Calgary website has links to livestream masses and news from the Diocese. I know that it is just not the same to attend mass virtually but how blessed we are to live in a time and place where we can do this and know that so many others are gathered together in prayer. Last week, I also noticed a rich blog post dedicated to Christian Video Programming for Children.

I am Lorelie Lenaour and will be serving as Acting Principal at Our Lady of the Assumption School from now until the end of June. As you know, Mrs. Kobza has accepted the position of Principal at St. Teresa of Calcutta School in Lethbridge, where she will provide great leadership as she has here at OLA. The search for the new principal of Our Lady of the Assumption School is well underway and we look forward to an announcement in the coming weeks.

I have served Holy Spirit Catholic Schools for over 35 years in various capacities and in various locations. Certainly, a highlight was the nine years that I taught at Our Lady of the Assumption school. This community is faith filled, welcoming and strong. I am very blessed to have this opportunity to return for a few months. Most recently, I served at St. Basil Catholic Education Centre as the Director of Learning for Holy Spirit Catholic Schools, retiring this past June.

In getting to know the staff and their work over the past few weeks, I can attest that they have worked incredibly hard under unique and challenging circumstances! I cannot even begin to express how impressed I have been to see the connections, commitment, and creativity that has been shown. Through their dedication, the exponential factor can be clearly witnessed at Our Lady of the Assumption School. Please continue to stay connected supporting your child’s ongoing learning.

Catholic Central High School 2019 Graduation Address

I am so incredibly honored to have been asked to be your guest speaker this morning! I am a proud graduate of the class of 1978 from Catholic Central High School. I am very proud that both my daughter and my son are graduates of Catholic Central High School.

I though I would tell you a bit about what CCHS was like back in 1978 when I was in Grade 12.

• CCHS was one school that housed students from Grade 8-12 and we used the  St. Francis building, the main CCHS building and the St. Joseph wing. There was a small “girls” gym where the Eggplant and Music rooms now are.
• Vassey Hall did not yet exist. Our big main gym was the St. Francis gym and that is where the hub of high school life happened – everything from sports events, to assemblies to school dances. I remember dancing to catchy tunes like Elton John’s Crocodile Rock, Bee Gees Stayin Alive and swaying along to everything by the Eagles and even John Denver’s Country Roads. (Class of 2019 Grad Song)
• We had an annual winter carnival which included various winter challenges, assemblies and a school dance where I was crowned Miss CCHS 1978. (My family wanted me to wear my tiara today, but I thought that might be a bit too…. shall we say… Amy Farrah Fowler.)

I was a cheerleader from Grade 8 to 12 and we brought home many cheerleading trophies from Basketball Tournaments around the province – I checked in the trophy case last time I was at CCHS and didn’t see them, so maybe they are in that mysterious secret  crawl space below the old St. Joseph wing?

Back in ‘78 we were just cheerleaders – we cheered on our teams, we didn’t have any gymnasts and certainly weren’t a dance squad. We did some fundraising, saved up our pennies and got to go to summer cheerleading camp at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. It was there that I first met my wonderful husband of almost 37 years. Mike was there attending Hockey camp, by the way.  

I learned a very important life lesson from cheerleading – and it comes from the leading part of cheerleading: People tend to support those things which they help to create.
Now you may or may not think of yourself as a leader today but you need to know that there will be times throughout your life when you are called to lead. I have found time and time again that the only way to ensure that as a leader, you have others with you is to include them every step of the way, right from brainstorming solutions to creating and carrying out a plan. That’s how commitment is built. How many times have you ended up doing group work, where one person did all the work and everyone else sat around and let it happen?

Become aware of opportunities to lead and be aware of ways to meaningfully include others in the process. The end product will always be richer because of the different gifts that each person brings. St. Paul reminds us that we are all one body and that within that one body there are many gifts and one Spirit. Because we are all created in the likeness and image of God, to meet another person is to encounter God.
Remember: People tend to support those things which they help to create.

I feel like you and I have some things in common right now. At the end of June, your high school days will be complete and I will be moving on into retirement. These are really big significant life changes! This year, I have been doing a lot of looking back and looking forward. As I look back, I feel so blessed to have had the gift of Catholic Education for almost every year of my life since starting Grade One. I attended St Patrick’s School, St. Basil School, St. Mary School and Catholic Central High School and then went on immediately after high school to work as an educational assistant at St. Patrick’s school – right back where I started. I remember noticing the same smell when I walked into the building after 9 years – it was…”school!”  (Books?) I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, but in 1978, to be honest, I actually wasn’t sure that I was “smart” enough for university. My reasons for wanting to be a teacher were actually quite naive at the time anyway.

• I loved pretending to mark re-used worksheets with lots of red check , check, check marks.
• I could hardly wait to have my own class to take to the library and use cool library tools like the date due stamp to check out books and …  the encyclopedias …and the card catalogue!
• I was looking forward to teaching in an orderly classroom where my students would sit still, work quietly, do what I commanded them to do … and raise their hands to speak.

During my time at St. Patrick’s I learned that teaching was a much more important and complex calling than I had first imagined. I knew right away that I loved working with students, guiding their learning and helping them to master learning hurdles. I learned from wonderful, kind teachers who cared for their students, respected the dignity of each precious one and went above and beyond daily to make school a great place to learn – just like your teachers at Catholic Central High School.

I began a journey where I learned that the world was changing rapidly and my vision of teaching and learning from my own Grade One experience was already drastically out of date and I would need to learn to embrace change in order to be successful. I have loved and looked forward to every day of my job (well, almost – let’s be real, here). My hope for you is that you will find your passion. I hope that you can do what you love and love what you do every day!

I have basically stayed in the same field – education for my entire career. (Apparently that’s kind of weird and not typical these days.) As we were reminded last night, you could have  7-8 job changes over the course of your lifetime. Nowadays, employers are looking for very specific skills (or competencies, as we refer to them in educational jargon). I believe that one of the most important of these is to be a lifelong learner. (You will need to embrace this if you are an average person who changes their job 7-8 times.) Never stop learning!

When I went to school and even when some of your parents went to school, a successful student was one who could figure out exactly what the teacher wanted and regurgitate the right answers to a set of multiple choice questions. But Life doesn’t work that way. Beyond formal schooling we rarely see multiple choice tests – rather we are faced with real life decisions that require us to consider multiple perspectives and various factors. We know now that you have entire libraries of knowledge and information in your pocket with instant access to the internet. You will need to be good at assessing and discerning what is the best, most accurate and useful information to make big life altering decisions.

Be a lifelong learner with the knowledge that “God loves you too much to allow you to stay the way you are today.”

Since announcing my retirement, I have been asked many times, What are you going to do?” I would guess that you are getting a lot of this same question.  We tend to let our schooling and our jobs define who we are, and it almost seems like when I say I am retiring people assume that I if I’m not working at my job, then I couldn’t possibly be doing anything worthwhile.

My hope for you is that you will also proudly love what you end up doing in your life. Always know that you are not your job – you are so much more than that. You are beautifully created in the likeness and image of God.
Who you are is God’s gift to you. Who you become is your gift to God.

In Summary 3 things to take away

1. You will be called to Lead – People tend to support those things which they help to create.
2. Do what you love and love what you do- every day!
3. Be a Lifelong Learner

Graduation from Catholic Central High School is graduation from all your Holy Spirit schooling. Know that all of your teachers had a part in your education and they are all praying for you this weekend and will continue to pray for you as you go forward into the world. When  I think of the place we belong, I think of the parable of the prodigal son. Even after the son disrespected and squandered his Father’s fortune, the Father welcomed his son home with open arms. Your family, your hometown, our Catholic community…this is home. Where ever you go in the world, this is one place where you will always belong.