Parents are a Plus

Last night I had the first meeting of the year with the PTSA (which stands for Parent/Teacher/Student /Association) Executive Board. It is one of the key organizations that support the activities of the school and it provides a way for parents to really help. Maggie Eshman, Lil Paepke, Patrice Brylske, and Anne Aquilla are the officers this year. What a great crew! We talked about calling new students to welcome them, inviting folks to be part of the upcoming Festival (October 9,10,11) and Auction/Bull Roast (November 14) We talked about how fast the summer flew by, getting kids ready for school, and our high hopes for the 2009-2010 anniversary year.
The part of these conversations I love the most is the very prominent undercurrent of how much these parents believe in and are willing to work for the school and their kids. No matter what the challenge they are willing to pitch in and help.
I've discovered over the years that this spirit of working hard and being welcoming is true for most of our parents. As I think back there are so many names I remember of people that I could really count on: Copes, Crum, Brotzman, Kriss, Dwyer, Odle, Lyons, Reed, Concordia, Bosse, Issenock,Greaver, Pfeiffer, Edebe, Fillius, Steck, Donohue, Kammen, Celmer! I could fill pages with names of families who have given hours of service to benefit our school and ultimately their chilren--all of our children! To me this is like the Litany of the Saints! I hope these families and all the ones I did not list as well ( and they are many) know how deeply grateful I am and will always be for the work that they did and the joy with which they did it. I think that parent support in a school is a crucial ingredient for success. Whew! I am glad we have it in abundance!
The other thought I had last night is the whole notion of how important "community" is to our school. At Our Lady of Mt. Carmel everyone and everything is somehow connected. It's like the "Six Degrees of Separation" game. Connections between elementary and high school, both schools and parish, and among families is always amazing. How wonderful that community is and what a support it has been in good times and bad. That will be a story for another day! Let's just say that the community of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has "saved' me more than once and I am truly grateful. Parents are an important ingredient in that community. Aren't we blessed!