New Beginnings

Well, in a mere four days my Izzy will be off to her new school: St. Josephs Catholic school here in Clinton. Obi will follow on Friday Sept. 15th. Yes, we decided to switch schools from Clinton public to the Catholic school in town. Why you ask?? Well, several reasons.

First of all we've noticed that many of the teachers at CPS don't seem very happy. When I worked at Clinton public 6 years ago, the morale seemed to be quite a bit better. Now it just seems more gloomy there. Don't get me wrong, there are some really great teachers there. I don't know the new principal that is coming, maybe she'll really help to gain support from families and increase the morale there. Just as an example, when I've visited (and volunteered, and worked at) CPS, when you pass a teacher in the hall that you don't know they tend to look the other direction...you're lucky to get a "hi" out of them. The two days that I've visited St. Josephs every teacher I've met has said hello, smiled and seemed genuinely happy to be there. Joel's cousin Heather worked at that school for six years and couldn't say enough about the staff and principal there. We were super-impressed with Jackie, the principal at the Catholic school and absolutely loved the way she related to the kids and staff that we saw.

Another aspect of the Catholic school that we like (of course) is the Biblical based teaching that they get there. I'm not just talking about the religion classes in which they learn more about God and the Bible, I'm talking about how every aspect of the kids education is in light of God's teachings. For example, they seem quite a bit less tolerant of behaviours such as swearing and showing disrespect to teachers and other students, and with an issue like bullying they deal with it by talking about how God wants us to treat others. I love this idea. The kids at St. Josephs seem to have learned to respect their teachers from what I saw in the few visits we made there. I also noticed that they do a lot with peer support and encourage the older students to really help out with the younger ones. When I took Izzy for her tour I was shocked by the number of kids in the older classes that said hello and welcomed her when Jackie introduced her to them. I'm not saying that all the kids that go there end up perfectly behaved or anything, I just really sensed a greater amount of respect and caring when I visited.

Of course there will be differences in our beliefs that we will need to discuss with the kids, but I figure either way we'll have to be involved in what our kids are being taught at school. If they grew up in the public school we would have to address the issues that we differ on from non-Christians, in the Catholic school we'll be talking to the kids about what we believe differently from what they are learning in the Catholic school. Like praying to Mary and the Saints as well as the sacraments (which they aren't allowed to be involved in anyway since they are non-Catholic). From what I understand there are many many non-Catholics at St. Josephs and our kids won't feel ostracized because they are different.

Yes, there will be new issues to deal with in our new school, but on the whole I think we're going to be better off putting our kids in the Catholic board. I really like the idea that they will be able to attend the Catholic high school someday because they have more funding and from my understanding are able to have certain courses that the public school in Clinton no longer offers, like auto and wood shop etc.

I'll admit, it's been a little difficult to get past the prejudices that I've been raised with (as a Mennonite), that our beliefs and interpreations of God and the Bible are correct and the Catholics are wrong. But in the end, isn't the main thing that we believe in the same God, and the same Bible? Are the little differences really that important?

Here's to new beginnings...

Mel