THOUGHTS FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL, JOSEPH VORBACH:
When we gathered as a faculty/staff team for an offsite day retreat at St. Charles Parish in Clarendon on Tuesday, it was the day after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and fresh in my mind was an impactful professional development webcast I'd attended recently. The webcast, entitled "The Responsibility of Catholic Schools and Churches to Talk about Racism" was excellent, offering school leaders like me the opportunity to profit from the perspective and experience of a diverse group of leaders in Catholic education around the country. Given our efforts at O'Connell to help students recognize their own uniqueness in the eyes of God and the fundamental human dignity of others, we are called to do at least two critical things: (1) work harder as educators to ensure our teaching practices are devoid of unconscious bias that makes it harder for minority students to learn; and (2) seize every opportunity to help our students continue to grow in their capacity to see and value the perspective of those who are different than them. As school leaders, we can also work harder to ensure our teachers, counselors and coaches have access to valuable training that will help us accomplish these goals. We also need to continue, whenever there are hiring opportunities, to find qualified, mission-focused candidates with backgrounds that reflect to a greater degree the racial and ethnic diversity of our student body.
There is an important conversation going on around the country and within the Church on this topic. Just before school began in the summer of 2017, Bishop Burbidge wrote the following in the Arlington Catholic Herald, What are we willing to do about racism? More recently, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued its USCCB Pastoral Letter Against Racism entitled "Open Wide Our Hearts." For the past two years, on the occasion of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Archbishop Lori of Baltimore has issued a pastoral reflection on the subject of racism: "The Enduring Power of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Principles of Nonviolence." (2018) and The Journey to Racial Justice (2019). For anyone, like me, looking to be a stronger and more effective contributor and leader in Catholic education on this important topic, these are valuable starting points.
Over the lunch hour at the retreat, I spoke to the faculty and staff about our responsibility—given our Catholic mission and our call to protect the human dignity of all persons—to get stronger individually and collectively as Catholic educators in this area. On the heels of the very good webcast, we have reached out to several participants in it and they will be helping us design stronger faculty professional development in the focus areas I described above. Without question, this effort must be and will be ongoing.
As the week draws to a close, I am very thankful for our Thank-a-thon student thankers. This afternoon, over 30 student volunteers, rotating through 20 phone lines, made thank you calls to donors who made a gift to the school in the past year. This is the fourth year in a row that we have held a "Thank-a-thon," and it has become an important element of our advancement effort for several reasons. First, we cannot thank our supporters enough, and a thank you from a direct beneficiary is particularly special. Second, participating in this process connects current students to the reality that philanthropy is a critical component of the school's success. Finally, participating in the calling process is a valuable professional development opportunity for our students.
I am looking forward to our school's annual gala and auction coming up on Saturday, Feb. 9. Final preparations are underway for Gatsby Knights, what promises to be a fun and exciting evening in support of the school's mission. If you haven't purchased your tickets, I encourage you to do so before the sales window closes this Tuesday.