ARTICLES

Do Catholic schools really make a difference?

By Georgette Richards
Special to The Catholic Virginian

Whenever you think about a project or a new idea, you hope and wonder about the long-term effect.

Last spring, school board member Dee Klotz mentioned sharing the outreach groups from Church of the Epiphany in Richmond with St. Edward-Epiphany School. The idea fueled the spark that came from one of the school’s goals of the strategic plan.

Specifically, the school wanted to form a committee with members from both St. Edward’s and Church of the Epiphany Human Concerns ministries to better reach out to those in need in the Richmond area. Instead, Dee met with Molly Smith and Mary Kelley, Ministers of Human Concerns at Epiphany and St. Edward’s, respectively. Both ministers gave the school a lengthy list of agencies and groups serviced by both parishes.

When school began in late August, teachers were enthused to present the agencies and groups needing our help to their students. Through consensus, teachers and classes named their outreach projects and began brainstorming ways to assist the groups. Once agencies were contacted, faculty arranged times for speakers to come in to talk with their students about the agency.

St. Edward-Epiphany School became a beehive of activity as students feverishly planned all sorts of ways to reach out to those in the Richmond area.

Students in both kindergarten and seventh grade chose Coordinators 2 Inc. and immediately invited parents and other students to participate in the “Kids Walk for Kids.”

Together, these two grades raised approximately $4,300. Meanwhile, first graders were doing odd jobs earning money to raise $400 for Westover Hills Elementary School children. Down the school hall, you could hear the excitement of second graders as they planned their school bake sale for Warren’s Hope, raising $326 and adding $572 during Advent by doing odd jobs.

Third graders have been collecting supplies for Communities in Schools. Thanks to our students, many children in the area received needed supplies for school and home. Third graders are also pen pals with two area third grades they are helping. Fourth graders are wheeling it by providing gifts for men and ladies who are homebound recipients of Meals on Wheels. They are also planning a pancake breakfast during Catholic Schools Week for the agency.

Fifth graders have learned about the sad plight of child abuse victims through SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) volunteer Angela Verdery. These eager ten-and eleven-year-olds gave up many hours of recess time to make crafts to sell at the school’s Secret Santa Shop. They have proudly raised $1,200 to date and have secret events planned for the spring.

Sixth graders raffled off an Ipod raising over $1,000 for Richmond Friends of the Homeless. Parents purchased $300 worth of paper goods for their daily feeding program and sixth graders sent a check for $700 to the agency.

After listening to the enduring struggle of terminally ill children with cancer and their parents’ plight with finances, our eighth graders chose Noah’s Children as their class outreach. Right away they began all sorts of projects, from a Christmas Dance to selling note cards and posters at ball games and the fall school fun fair.

Eighth graders made certain they mentioned Noah’s Children to friends and relatives at Thanksgiving, asking them to make a donation to these families. Noah’s children received $2,224 from the Class of 2007 with more events to come this spring.

Oops, I failed to mention our four-year-olds and their outreach to MICAH. They did odd jobs at home to buy mittens and gloves for children at Westover Hills Elementary.

While all of this is noteworthy and part of the mission of Catholic schools, you begin to wonder if Catholic school values and projects make a lasting difference. Within two months time, third graders Jordan McLellan and Alyssa Chester had a car wash at school on a Saturday and sent over $300 to St. Joseph’s Villa Katrina Fund.

Recently, fourth grader Alex McMurtry had a birthday party and asked her friends to donate to the Central Virginia Foodbank instead of a gift. Her invitation stated, “I am so excited about this party. It will turn out to be my best birthday gift EVER.”

Before Christmas, fourth graders Coleman Early and Henry Sullivan were part of a team that helped add 1,547 pounds of food to the Richmond Foodbank. Without a doubt, we can proudly say “YES” to the lasting difference a Catholic School education continues to make in Richmond, Virginia.

(Georgette Richards is principal of St. Edward-Epiphany School in Richmond.)

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