Culture

A career in education has left me longing to have "known then" what I "know now," but I know that just as de Chardin invites us in prayer, I must appreciate the growth made in the "intermediate stages."

Eileen
McLaughlin

In the fall of 1998, I took on my first teaching assignment as a middle school teacher at St. Ann School in Somerville. I was 22 years old and a recent graduate of Boston College. I had four separate experiences of student teaching, countless hours of class time, books read, and papers written to prepare me for this professional assignment. With that said, I cringe a bit when I think of just how underprepared I may have been for the task ahead of me.
There is a prayer from a Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, in which I have always found solace. In his prayer, "Patient Trust," de Chardin writes:

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient with being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability -- and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually -- let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete."
A career in education has left me longing to have "known then" what I "know now," but I know that just as de Chardin invites us in prayer, I must appreciate the growth made in the "intermediate stages." I must trust "the slow work of God."
In an effort to provide new Catholic school teachers with the type of formation from which I could have benefited, the Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office, with the support of the McNeice Foundation, hosted the inaugural week of the McNeice Academy for Excellence in Catholic Education earlier in August. The Academy seeks to support new teachers by building a professional community, as well as a shared learning environment that identifies and informs the importance of faith formation, academic excellence, and strong communication.
Even with this training and support, there will be lessons learned along the way. When I initially began to think about this article, my intent was to write about artificial intelligence, but the events of this past Wednesday at the Annunciation School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, forced me to consider something else. School safety in 1998 was largely about routine fire drills, but by the spring of my first school year, Columbine had taken place, and school safety changed.
The safety and security of our students is paramount to all teachers and administrators. Events like those of the past week remind us that the world in which we live can be dangerous. While school leaders, the Catholic Schools Office and teachers began preparing for this school year with a focus on faith formation, academics, and communication, we are reminded that we must be vigilant about our security and safety. Archdiocesan schools are blessed by a supportive team at the Pastoral Center who provide training. School principals develop relationships with local law enforcement.
I have been moved by the leadership of Matt DeBoer, the principal of Annunciation School in Minneapolis. DeBoer's ability to speak articulately, with love and compassion in the midst of such tragedy, made me proud to be a Catholic school educator. I will keep him and the school community in my prayers -- not only for him, but in gratitude for him and his leadership. The stories that have been told provide evidence of a strong Catholic community, people of faith and fortitude. I plan to do what DeBoer asked of us when he said, "Please pray but don't stop with your words. Let's make a difference and support this community's children, these families, these teachers. Never again can we let this happen." In difficult times, above all, "trust in the slow work of God ... and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete."

- Eileen McLaughlin is superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Boston.

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