Bishop Michael W. Fisher began a tour of diocesan elementary schools on Monday, Jan. 27, as part of Catholic Schools Week. The annual celebration of Catholic education is marked by Masses, assemblies and activities for students, families, parishioners and community members to showcase the value of Catholic schools.
The first visit was St. John The Baptist School in Kenmore, where Bishop Fisher celebrated Mass.
He thanked the teachers for their hard work.
“Certainly, there are many joys and certainly there are many benefits to teaching in a Catholic school, but there are also great sacrifices,” he said. “We realize there are other places that will probably pay you a lot more money or even have better benefits. But we know anyone who is teaching or working in a Catholic school, really it’s is a mission and a vocation for them.”
The bishop said he felt a special connection to the 189-year-old parish as it was founded by St. John Neumann, explaining that as bishop of Philadelphia, St. John Neumann founded the first Catholic school system. Another favorite saint is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who established the first American Catholic school in Emittsburg, Maryland. As a seminarian, Bishop Fisher would visit the school, now a shrine. He said he could feel her presence while studying there.
“She had such a love and commitment for the children that were entrusted to her,” he said.
Charles Cook, has been St. John’s interim principal for just three weeks, but has a long history of teaching at St. Andrew Country Day School and St. Joseph Collegiate Institute. Speaking on Catholic Schools Week, he said, “It’s good for students to celebrate their identity and know that it is a special place. School can be hard for kids, so this is a chance for them, while doing their school work, to also have some fun and gather in community. The older kids work with the younger kids. They share each other’s gifts. We have a talent show during the week, which is always a big hit.”
The tour next stopped at Christ the King School in Snyder which held a concert by the Mount St. Mary Academy Marching Band. Mark Flynn, instrumental music teacher at the Mount, explained the brass and percussion instruments to the young students, while band members gave a demonstration.
“We like to go to the other Catholic schools and find out what they are doing,” explained Maria Wangler, principal of Christ the King. “Mount St. Mary was gracious enough to come with their marching band. It’s been a great experience.”
The week will feature a Field Day in the gym with inter-grade teams competing in games and relay races, a spaghetti lunch with parents and grandparents, and a Bible Bee competition against St. Benedict School.
The last stop for the day brought the bishop, who traveled with Julie Gajewski and Chris Riso from the diocesan Catholic Schools Department, a couple miles up the road to St. Benedict’s. The Eggertsville school held a faith rally featuring a performance from music teacher Miranda Shulman, parish music director Mason Cancilla, and friends Karina and Andrew Grinschischin.
“One of the ways we can express our love for God is through prayer, and music is a powerful form of prayer,” Assistant Principal Kayla Hammel told the students. “Today, we will worship together in songs that lift our hearts to God and remind us of His presence in our lives.”
After the rally, Hammel, who organized the rally, explained her intent.
“As we begin Catholic Schools Week, we wanted an opportunity for our students to come together in community. We organized this faith rally so that we can praise God and become closer to Him through music,” she said. “We have very talented musicians in our community, so we thought this would be a great way to bring students closer to God through music.”
Bishop Fisher will continue his tour of Catholic schools all week.