Alumni: When Does It Ever End?

This past week Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has been inundated with visitors. It has been wonderful to see our alumni come back to visit during the spring break of their colleges. Since 95% of our graduates go on to college, their midsemester break has become a traditional time for them to reconnect. The young women who return look a bit more polished and sophisticated. Young men are broader of shoulder and are often sporting their first ever beard,scruffy though it may be. That is where differences end. All of these recent graduates tell tales of courses they have loved, grade point averages that are respectable, and discuss career options and changes of major with their former teachers and administrators at out school. This past week we heard from a photography major at The Maryland Institute of Art, a political science and international studies major from St. Mary's College, as well as from several students in nursing, physical therapy,health care and related fields. We even got tickets in the mail from one of our alumna from the University of Southern California (a theater major) who is putting on a one woman show in Baltimore in a few weeks. Those of us at the school are elated to have these conversations and interactions. Seeing these graduates move forward with independence and success is one of the gratifications teachers share. I thought several times during these visits that our relationships last long after the final blessing of graduation is over. When do these connections end? I hope that they never do!
From the perspective of those of us who teach at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, as long as people remain who have known our former students certainly there are connections. Beyond that,though, there is a connection to the school itself that goes beyond individuals. Whether a former student attended in the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, the nineties,or in this new century, the experience of a small, nurturing yet challenging community where there is not only room to grow but an expectation to grow has been constant. In our fifty years of serving young people, the commitment to help them develop God's gifts and achieve success, happiness, and a life of faith has remained a priority. Our school has done her part!
In the past few weeks, in the aftermath of the school consolidation plan, there has been a great deal of noise made by alumni of various schools. It made me wonder if alumni really understand that they, too, have a responsibility to their former school that does not end. I wonder if alumni ever think about those expectations? If they do, is it only in a moment of need or crisis? Is it too often "too little too late?"
I believe that the first expectation of Carmel alumni is that they live their life in a way that reflects the values and information they have learned at Carmel. Are they good parents to their children? Are they leaders in their neighborhoods and communities? Are they using God's gifts in appropriate ways? Can we look at them and be proud of the adults they have become? I would hope that all our grads could answer, "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"
The expectations go beyond that. Are our alumni advocates for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in the community? Do they articulate the news about the great education available at Mt. Carmel? Do they tell the same stories their teachers remember about how learning happens--sometimes the easy way, sometimes the hard way? Do they relate that in that process, they were never abandoned? If our alumni become advocates for our school in the community, they help make our school, small in size, stronger and less vulnerable to the econmic tides of the times. Our alumni need to "talk it up" about all that our small school is willing to provide in education of a young person's mind, and heart, and soul.
And, finally, our alumni need to support our school financially. When letters come asking for help with student scholarshps, Annual Appeals, or building projects, those alumni who have reached some success and security in their own lives need to give back. Being of service and supporting our community is a theme about which every Carmel student has heard. "It is not all about you, it is about our community, and building a better world," is a statement I have been making to kids for decades! Every Carmel alumni should be considering the extent to which they can support our school. As recent events have shown, it is too late to wait until crisis has descended. Now if the acceptable time!( If you haven't sent your Annual Appeal gift, now would be a great time to do so!)
I have come to be a believer that the world improves, if it does at all, a person at a time. Educators have a rare opportunity and responsibility to make that happen on a daily basis. But, help is needed from those who "get it." No one gets the importance of a Gospel based, Catholic education better than those who have benefitted from one. I know that our alums "get it!"
So, to get back round to the beginning-- The relationship between Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and her graduates--recent or not--never ends. It is also true that their relationship and responsibilty to our school never ends either. Live a "good" life, talk the good talk and dig into those pockets to support a wonderful school that supported you!

"Sometimes Ya Don't Know What Ya Got..."

Over the last day or so the first line to the lyrics of an old song has been running through my head. The tune is lost as are the words to the rest of the song. The part I remember is "sometimes ya don't know what ya got 'til it's gone." I have been thinking about how false these words ring in our present school situation.
This morning Archbishop O'Brien announced that thirteen schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will not open next September but will be consolidated with other school communities. Many have suffered from enrollment decreases, the challenges of old buildings (some well over 100 years old!), money problems, and the changing populations in neighborhoods once filled with children. The plan was thoroughly done and based on solid research and projections. It is a valiant attempt to trim the number of schools so that there can be new growth and increased excellence in the schools that remain. The consolidation plan is an attempt to insure that Catholic education in Baltimore will thrive for now and for the future. This was quite a challenge! Given that painful challenge, there is no one involved at any level who does not know clearly and painfully what has been lost.
One of the great blessings of Catholic schools is that they are more than educational institutions. They are families in the best sense of that word. Certainly students learn not only the basics but also skills of leadership, lessons of faith, and the need to work for justice. All of this learning happens because of the relationships that exist within each school. Without sounding like a Pollyanna, I truly believe that where Catholic schools do their job, love abides. Educators love their kids. They love them enough to teach them, challenge them, go to all their games, chaperone their events, show up for advice sessions, retreats, and prayer services. They rejoice at the family celebrations of their students and support those same families when sadness comes to them. There is no end to the connections that bind one to the other--students,parents, teachers, administrators, priests and religious.
What happened today in Baltimore was not a failure of these relationships. In some cases the buildings failed and in many cases the finances failed but in no case was there a lack of love, caring, and dedication--one for the other--in those school families. That is why, though many realized that this day needed to come in one form or another or all could be lost, sadness abounds. I believe that for a time, that sadness must be allowed to happen and be respected.
It is the great hope that the children of these families who are now engulfed in loss,can find their way to a new Catholic school--a new family that will continue to teach, love, and nurture them. It will be in realizing that the Church is bigger than any one place and the spirit of one should permeate all, that will allow many to begin to move forward.
Something wonderful was lost today and everyone in our school communities knows it. Those who remain are obligated out of solidarity and respect to carry on the dedication, tradition, and excellence that have always been the marks of Catholic education. We also carry forward hope which is another mark not only of our schools but of our faith. Pope John Paul II said, 'There is hope for the future and its name is youth." We continue to teach, serve, and nurture our youth in schools of excellence knowing the great sacrifices and traditions that allow us to continue. We pray for those families and school communities who are grieving. We also pray that we always recognize and appreciate the blessings that we have in our school families and relationships--while we have them!