Let
me just say that Gov. Larry Hogan has done a great thing, and we should all
thank him. No, no, I don’t want to drag
you off into the realms of political controversy; I am talking about something
that is easy for everyone to applaud: starting school after Labor Day. Gov. Hogan initiated it for the public
schools, Montgomery County parish schools chose to follow, and it was GREAT.
As
something of a seasoned observer of families and schoolkids, let me just say
that several years ago, as the start date for schools continued to creep
earlier and earlier until it was more than a week before August was over, I saw
discombobulation, disappointment, and disorientation in our kids and their
families. They were not ready yet; they
were not done with summer yet. It was
untimely.
Of
course, it was exacerbated for the teachers, who start a week before classes
begin, and for the administration, including me, who start in earnest several
weeks before that. It was as if August
was not a summer month at all!
This
year, it was clear on the first day of school that the schoolkids and their
families were ready. It was obvious in
the preceding weeks that they were enjoying having time to wind down their
summer program, and to do their preparatory work for the change in mission that
comes with the school year. There was
less angst, less anguish, and far less anxiety.
In their place was eager anticipation.
Our
start to the school year was marked by the careful oversight of our new principal,
Mr. Ted Ewanciw. Having been in the
leadership of the school for years, and being a parishioner here for decades, he
has a clear vision of what our school can be and should be. It was clear in the preparation for the beginning
of class, and there is also a clue in the motto he has chosen for the
year: I must become a saint. These
are the words of our own patroness, Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
The
first day of classes fell on the new feast of the newly proclaimed Saint, Theresa
of Calcutta. Most of us remember Mother
Theresa as someone who was very much of our times, and even of our place, as
she visited the US frequently. Saints
are not long ago and far away, they are here and now!
And
the first Friday morning school Mass fell on the Feast of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and the seventieth (70th) anniversary of the
first opening day of our parish school, September 8, 1947. Can you believe? Harder for me to believe is that I have been
Pastor for more than one-seventh of those first days: this was my twelfth, and
counting!
It
is important to keep these anniversaries, and we have more of them as the year
unfolds. But it is also important for
families and kids to have time together to play, to travel, and to learn in
other ways, as well as to prepare for school.
That all of this occurred for our kids this year on days that are
blessed with local and eternal significance is a good reason to thank, of all
people, our state’s governor.
Monsignor
Smith
