Thoughts on September 11, 2001

(This is a repost of a blog that I wrote one year ago today.)

On September 11, 2001, I was in school, having been the principal at St. Isaac Jogues for the past four years. My librarian came into my office and mentioned that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I assumed it was a small plane, and thought, "How awful. I wonder how they got so far off course?"

Not two minutes later, my husband called from Selfridge (where he was the Operations Support Group Commander at the time) and said, "Mary, this is big. That was an airline jet that crashed into the World Trade Center, and we don't think it was an accident. Turn on the news."

We had a pastoral staff meeting scheduled for that morning, and I walked over the parish offices where we watched the news in horror. We were watching, together, as they broke in with the news that a third plane had crashed, and I knew from the footage we were watching that it WASN'T New York City.  I said, "I have to be back over in school." And I left the staff meeting immediately.

The rest of that morning is a horrible blur. I couldn't DO anything but walk the halls of the building, checking in on students and staff. We had the teachers turn off the televisions and directed them to just keep teaching and keep as much information from the children as possible. I comforted one teacher who had a son in the military Special Forces, and worried about my brother. I knew Tom had just been reassigned to the Pentagon and was, in fact, scheduled to arrive in Washington DC that very day. (we learned several hours later that he was still en route when the crash occurred).

My clearest memory of that morning, when we heard the news about the plane crash in Pennsylvania, was that no crisis plan in the world could prepare me for dealing with something like this. (Coincidentally, we had just completed work on our school's crisis plan). We kept the students in the building at lunchtime, not sure if another tragedy wouldn't occur, again, even closer to home. Many parents called school that morning, but actually most students stayed in school for the entire day.

Like everyone else in America, my life changed, fundamentally, ten  years ago today. My husband's work with the Michigan Air National Guard changed from a back up, support force, to a full, active, constantly deploying wing. Dave finished his career with the military in 2008, retiring as the Wing Vice Commander. During those seven years he faced, over and over again, the reality of directing those under him into harm's way. He himself flew a plane into Afghanistan that took bullets to the tail. I don't think any of us will ever again feel as safe and secure as we did on September 10, 2001, knowing on that day that the continental United States had never been attacked by such a threat.

From the vantage point of today, looking back ten years, it's more clear to me than ever that the ONLY thing that makes any sense at all is my faith in God. How else can you understand such a horror? Our human perspective doesn't let us make any sense of such irrational hatred. Only a  God who loves us, unconditionally, and grieves with us at such terror, can help us make decisions for the future based on love. Msgr. Halfpenny reminds me frequently to "speak the truth in love." That's the only crisis plan that can last.

Heartfelt Reflections on Catholic Education

As our St. Paul parents know, it's been a difficult August at school. Three of our teachers accepted teaching positions in local public schools (kind of at the last minute, which is when the public schools typically do their hiring). These moves generated plenty of commentary and questions, and I'd like to share my thoughts with you.

For each of these three teachers, the decision to leave St. Paul was a wrenching one. They loved St. Paul, the children and families, and their colleagues. The reality is - I can't pay any of my teachers what they're worth. Our pay scale is roughly 60% of the pay scale in Grosse Pointe Public Schools. Those of us who commit to a career in Catholic education do so knowing that we're sacrificing pay for the opportunity to share our ministry. Some teachers simply can't afford to do that, much as they might want to do so.

For families who choose Catholic education, I always tell you that you have wonderful choices in our community: top-rated public schools and excellent private schools. We offer something different - a faith based education where our primary purpose is catechesis: helping our children to grow in their faith. You certainly don't sacrifice an excellent academic education in order to choose faith-based education! About 2/3's of our graduates go on to take honors courses in high school. Our parent satisfaction rate (for faith, academics, teachers, and leadership) is in the upper 80% range (based on the spring, 2012 survey which received 135 family responses). Our standardized test scores are typically in the top 10% nationally (the scores that qualified us for our National Blue Ribbon).

But the reality is that we cannot offer everything that the public schools can offer - they can spend double, per child, what we can spend ($10,000 per child vs. our per child cost of $5,000). The private school discrepancy is even higher - their tuition ranges from $15,000 to nearly $20,000 per child, per year. When parents come to me and ask why we don't have smaller classes, or more honors classes, or more subject or extracurricular offerings - this is the reason. More than 85% of our school budget goes to salaries and benefits. The only reason we can provide a high-quality academic education at $5,000 per child is because our salaries can't compete with the public school.

Some of you know that I am a member of the Archdiocesan Catholic School Advisory Board. Our charge is to find a way to make Catholic education available, sustainable, and affordable for the next generation of Catholic school students. I have to be honest - I'm not sure how we're going to do that! St. Paul is in great shape, because we have a parish community that annually provides a school subsidy of more than $350,000. Is this the only way Catholic education can survive - in the affluent parishes? Most parishes can't provide even a fraction of that subsidy.

Please continue to pray for our school and parish, and for all the schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit. We are absolutely committed to faith-based day school education. Pray for our teachers and their deep commitment to your children and their growth in the faith.



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