Gratitude - Expanding Our Hearts in Love and Service

AS WE ENTER THE MONTH OF MAY AND REFLECT ON THIS SCHOOL YEAR, WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE MANY BLESSINGS BESTOWED UPON THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS CATHOLIC SCHOOL AND THE PARISH COMMUNITY. The readers of SB Magazine voted us the best private school and best principal in the Shreveport / Bossier City area. Our enhanced curricula in math and language arts and the addition of a resource teacher increased the students’ mastery of math skills, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. The results were well beyond our expectations. The students excelled this year, with so many of them competing on the local, regional, and state levels across a variety of disciplines, including essay contests sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and Veterans of Foreign Wars, art competitions, and science and social studies fairs, resulting in our students winning a Silver Cup from the State Science Olympiad and achievements in basketball and soccer. Our own Brooke Bullock was named 8th Grade Diocesan

Student of the Year. With the generosity of our school and parish community, we enhanced our Outdoor Learning Center to bring the beauty of God’s creation into the learning experience. New wrought iron fencing was installed around the southern fields, Promethean Interactive Boards were placed in all classrooms that needed upgrades, and the locks in our beautiful seventy-five-yearold building were replaced. Amid so much happening on campus, it would have been easy to fall into the trap of being “too busy for that,” as so often happens with kids and grown-ups alike, with matters of the soul.

As principal, I am most proud of how we encounter God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the angels and saints in our daily activities. Our approach is reflected in all that we think, say, and do … from morning prayers to the daily Angelus, weekly Mass, opportunities for confession, and liturgical traditions like Living Stations, First Communion, and Confirmation. Our Catholic faith is reflected in the outward signs of our love for God and kindness toward others. As servants of God, we are reminded of sacred scripture’s charge, “Amen, amen I say to you, whatever you did for these least of mine, you did it for me” (Matthew 25:24). Each month, our students serve to the least among us through our Sharing is Caring initiative, in which SJB classes identify and support a local organization through donations and site visits. Our motto, “Kindness is Practiced Here”, echoes in our hallways and on our walls and shines through in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

At Grand Coteau, where our patron saint performed his second miracle, a sign hangs in the stairwell that says, “Step lightly, for angels and saints have walked where you now tread.” I like that message; it is a good reminder of the two-hundred-plus pairs of feet I hear going up and down the stairs every day. It is good to note that the saints were people like us who became holy and more like Christ in their daily Catholic lives. Our own Saint John Berchmans once stated, “If I do not become a saint when I am young, I shall never become one.” Our students strive to become scholars and saints as they grow in stature, wisdom, and holiness….even though they are still young.

Our personal and communal relationship with God continues to flourish for students and staff at the Cathedral’s school. Our gratitude for His love and forgiveness expands our hearts and leads us to a desire to share the Good News with others as we live out our Catholic faith through love and service. At SJB, we prioritize God in our relationships as the most important person(s) in our lives. As the principal, it is my privilege and responsibility to keep the words of our mission before me to ensure that our sacred ministry is always guiding us toward God.