Saint Mother Teresa's Legacy for Youth

 St. Teresa of Calcutta - An Exemplary Life

  

On Thursday, September 22, 2016, I had the pleasure of participating in a special outdoor mass at Mother Teresa High School in recognition of the canonization of Mother Teresa. Opening remarks were made by Mother Teresa Principal Gerard Stephenson, OCSB Chairperson Elaine McMahon, and Director of Education Denise Andre. His Grace, Archbishop Terence Prenderagast, presided and spoke in his homily about Mother Teresa's life of humble service to the poorest of the poor. To commemorate this special day, the school presented Elaine McMahon with a framed picture of Mother Teresa, taken by Jean-Marc Carisse. At Mother Teresa High School Canonization Outdoor Mass L. to R. Me, Father Frank Brewar, OCSB Chair Elaine McMahon, Archbishop Terence Prendergast, Board Chaplain Fr. Peter Sanders, OCSB Director of Education Denise Andre  Following the mass, Ms. Jennifer Simpson, Department Head of English at Mother Teresa High School, gave a stirring address that, like Archbishop Prendergast's homily, focused on the exemplary life of Mother Teresa.  I was so moved by her speech that I asked her permission to include the text of her speech in this blog post.  On the occasion of Mother Teresa’s Canonization Every day we walk through the school’s atrium we pass the huge image of Mother Teresa dressed in her white and blue sari with her arms outstretched as if to protect the children beneath her.  While the real-life Mother Teresa was only five feet tall, the enormous size of her image in our atrium reflects the influence she has had over our understanding of love and compassion. The principle of doing unto others lives within the very walls of this school.  Thus, Pope Francis proclaimed Mother Teresa a saint on September 4, 2016, 19 years after her death, and gave her the Catholic Church’s highest honour.  The beginnings of her journey of devotion, however, started when she was just 18, the same age many of our graduates will be next June.  She committed 70 years to the “unwanted, unloved, and uncared for” in the Calcutta slums, and consequently was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Altar for Mother Teresa Outdoor Canonization Mass  While our graduates prepare to journey into their own uncertain futures, may they measure their success not by the amount of money they make or by the number of degrees they earn but by their ability to apply Mother Teresa’s lessons in humility, generosity and selflessness.  Along with parents, guardians, and teachers who have guided and nurtured all of you, Mother Teresa too has been ever present in all of your lives. Bird's eye view of Outdoor Mass Finally, there is no greater symbol of Mother Teresa’s vision than the dove.  Since ancient cultures saw doves as motherly figures, this uplifting image foretells Mother Teresa’s hope for us to “Go out into the world today and love the people [we] meet” and to “Let [our] presence light new light in the hearts of people”.  Remembering these words and believing, as she did, in living Christ’s message is the responsibility of all Mother Teresa students.  The ripple effects of our actions will extend far beyond our school’s boundaries.  Thus, releasing this flock of doves symbolizes our dedication to Mother Teresa’s vision of peace and love.  God Bless you all. Saint Mother Teresa   Jean-Marc Carisse photo of Saint Mother Teresa during her                1988 visit tending to Father Fortin at the Ottawa Hospital             The original photo is on diplay at Mother Teresa High School

55 First Days of School

55 First Days of School

Since 1961, I have been going back to school after Labour Day Weekend.  That means that Tuesday, September 6, 2016 is my 55th first day of school.  As I am retiring in January 2017 from the Ottawa Catholic School Board, this, alas, is also my last first day of school after Labour Day!

On September 5, 1961, I started kindergarten at what was then known as Holy Cross Elementary School at 1119 Lazard St. in Ottawa West.  A few years after I began attending the school, its name was changed to St. Andrew's.  The building, relatively unchanged in appearance, is now home to Torah Academy.

My first school at 1119 Lazard St.

Indeed my earliest memory is of my first day of school - Well, actually, what I recall of that day is walking to school in the morning.  With my oldest brother Michael, I walked the 5 blocks to school from my home at 1159 Adirondack Dr.  I recall stopping halfway to school at a home on Checkers Rd, where a classmate of my brother's lived.  As my brother's friend also had a little brother starting kindergarten, I recall feeling somewhat relieved that I would have someone with whom I could walk into my first classroom.  I also remember that he looked as nervous and excited as I did!

September 4, 1962 - My first day in grade 1

 - That's me in the gold sweater 

I recall arriving at the school - and being awestruck by the sight of what appeared to be hundreds of children playing in the school yard.  The last clear memory I have of my first day of school was of a handheld cowbell being rung by a teacher and all the children coming to a freeze when it sounded.  I froze, too, but as much from dread at the now imminent prospect of crossing the threshold of the school as from an apparent school rule.

Odd that I would remember the walk to school that day and the moments leading up to the bell sounding, but not anything about my time spent in the kindergarten classroom that day.

First day of school - September 3, 1968
I was starting grade 6 

Much has changed about school over the past 55 years - chalkboards have been replaced by interactive whiteboards, desks are no longer in rows, and laptops, iPads, and chromebooks have made traditional notebooks nearly obsolete.  However, my observations, as a teacher and later as a principal, of students on the first day of school have revealed to me that this same mixed feeling of excitement and trepidation, or, in some cases, of sheer dread, still dominates the psyche of many young people who are attending a school for the first time.

As a high school teacher, vice-principal, and principal, I have always made it something of  a mission to identify, on the first day of school, students who are new and apparently without friends.  I would see them wandering around the school self-consciously looking preoccupied either with the books they were carrying or with signs and posters on the walls.  At lunchtime, I would see them sitting alone in the cafeteria, closely studying the sandwich they were eating and trying so desperately not to look or feel so alone.

If you are a teacher or other adult working in a school, please be on the lookout on the first day of school for students such as these.  Please help ensure that their memories of their first day of school are good memories.  Talk with them, welcome them to the school, or even just smile at them.  If you are a student, please find some space in your heart to make new students feel a part of things at the school.

Feeling completely alone in a large school is a terrible state of being and guarantees a student will experience neither academic success nor a positive sense of well-being; on the other hand, feeling as though one belongs is a sure-fire way to motivate a student to do well and be well at school.

As an educator for the part 35 years, I know something about the nervousness and loneliness that many students experience on the first day of school.  But as a kindergarten student 55 first days of school ago, I also experienced it first-hand.    

My 55th and last first day of school -
September 6, 2016