We are extra busy at work with the earthquake in Haiti , and I field calls on "what can we send you". Best answer (that few want to hear): Cash.
Click on the image above for MSNBC's article with the headline "Disaster do-gooders can actually hinder help".
Got this via e-mail a couple days ago:
By John ShaughnessyThe archdiocese has applied to the Mayor’s Office in Indianapolis to create two charter schools for the 2010-2011 school year.
If the applications are approved, the archdiocese will become the first Catholic diocese in the United States that has committed to overseeing a school involved in this educational approach.
In announcing the plan on Dec. 9, archdiocesan leaders noted that the effort involves changing the status of two of the six schools that form the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies—a consortium of schools dedicated to educating children in economically-challenged, urban areas of Indianapolis.
In the plan, St. Anthony Catholic School and St. Andrew & St. Rita Catholic Academy would become charter schools. If approved, the two schools would still be managed by the archdiocese, but they would have to change their names and they would no longer be able to promote the Catholic faith.
The other four schools that form the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies—Central Catholic School, Holy Angels Catholic School, Holy Cross Central School and St. Philip Neri School—will continue as Catholic schools.
The plan was announced on Dec. 9 in a message to pastors of the affected parishes and to the parents, faculty and the staff members at the two schools who are the focus of the proposed change.
“After many months of research, prayer and consultation, Archbishop Daniel Buechlein has given his approval to submit 2 charter school applications to the office of the Mayor of Indianapolis,” wrote Connie Zittnan, the director of the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies.
In her letter, Zittnan also stated, “It is important for you to know that we have also met with the parishioners, staffs and parents of these two schools. Overall, they were supportive in continuing our mission of serving our children in these neighborhoods in these ways.”
The archdiocese also plans to continue to offer instruction in the Catholic faith to students who attend these two schools.
“One of the major changes we will see is we will have to develop faith formation before or after school rather than during the school day,” Zittnan said. “Speaking with both parishes, the pastor and deacon of these parishes are both committed to taking on this portion of the child’s development.”
In seeking to start the two charter schools, the archdiocese is responding to two major challenges to educating children in urban neighborhoods, Zittnan says.
“Through the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies, we want to continue our mission of working with our children in the urban center,” Zittnan said. “We have two major concerns. As generous as our parishes, our archdiocese, corporate Indianapolis and major contributors are, we are having a difficult time funding all six schools as they are presently operated. We’re operating in a deficit every year. Secondly, in these tough economic times, our families at these schools are having a tough time coming up with the tuition.”
Faced with those realities, changing the two schools to charter schools allows the archdiocese to continue “educating our urban children in these two neighborhoods,” Zittnan explained.
The two charter schools would be self-supporting, according to Jeffrey Stumpf, the chief financial officer of the archdiocese.
“This will allow us to shift the fundraising dollars currently used at those two schools to the other four Mother Theodore Catholic Academies schools, stabilizing the finances of those Catholic schools,” Stumpf said. “We could get this financial improvement by simply closing the schools, but our strong desire is to continue serving the children in these two neighborhoods.”
Economic realities forced the archdiocese to consider the charter school approach, Stumpf said.
“Because of the demographics of the families that these schools serve, only about 12 percent of the cost of running the schools comes from the school families and the local parishes,” he noted. “The archdiocese takes on the responsibility of over 50 percent of the funding. The academies currently need about $3.8 million per year from sources outside of the school operations.
“We’re able to raise $1.1 million per year through the parishes of the archdiocese from the Christ Our Hope: Compassion in Community annual appeal, and about $1-1.5 million per year in corporate, foundation and alumni fundraising efforts—leaving a remaining deficit of about $1.2-1.7 million per year that we’ve been unable to fund.”
If the charter school plan is approved, the archdiocese will receive about $7,500 per student from the State of Indiana, Stumpf said.
Zittnan outlined the reasons why the proposed change will best serve the children at those schools—starting with the fact that tuition will be free.
“Full tuition is about $3,800,” Zittnan said. “Very few of our children in either of these schools pay very close to that, but our children will not have to pay tuition which will take the burden off their parents. We will also be able to have additional staff to work with children who, for whatever reason, need additional assistance in the classroom. And we will have a transportation plan for families that live more than a mile from the school.”
While archdiocesan leaders hope the changes can take place at the two schools, they also stress the need for continued support of the four Mother Theodore Catholic Academies that will remain as Catholic schools.
“It’s very important to understand that those four Catholic schools will need the continuous generosity of our major donors, the archdiocese and our parishes,” Zittnan said.
The change has been under consideration since March. Since then, Archbishop Buechlein and other archdiocesan leaders have sought the input and opinions of different people and groups, including priests, donors, business leaders, political leaders, the archdiocesan finance council, and parents and staff members at St. Anthony Catholic School and St Andrew & St. Rita Catholic Academy.
“Since he came here in 1992, the archbishop has been committed to educating children in our urban neighborhoods,” Zittnan said. “He again is looking for ways to meet the needs of these students.
“Other dioceses have looked at the challenge of continuing their mission in urban settings, and they’ve come up with two options—either close schools, or lease school buildings to secular companies to run charter schools. If our plan is approved, we will be the first in the United States where the archdiocese is committed to overseeing this form of education.”
The archdiocese has formed a separate corporation—ADI Schools, Inc.—to apply for the charter.
“This corporation will hire the Mother Theodore Catholic Academies to manage the operations of the schools,” Stumpf said. “So the MTCA will now be responsible for operating four Catholic schools and two public charter schools.”
Archdiocesan leaders believe this approach is the best available to continue its commitment and mission to children at the two schools.
“We believe we can still transfer the values we hold dear to us—discipline, hard work, honesty, leadership, giving to others and serving others,” Zittnan said. “It’s not about the buildings. It’s not about the schools. It’s about the children we do not want to leave behind.” †
I'm on the train from Paris to Berlin, and have about twenty minutes to type up this entry before we change trains at our next stop (Frankfort). In the train, half the seats face "forward" and half face "backward". Right now, ours are facing backward.
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6/28/09 Paris 1pm, Cafe "Grill 14" on the Boulevard Lefebre
The Holy Grail
Breon and I have spent hours scouring the streets of Paris, seeking the holy grail of sweet-smelling water for Lynda. The requirements make it next-to-impossible to find. It must be:
Today I walked to a nearby church (Notre Dame1) and caught the last few minutes of the noon Mass before they kicked out everyone (about twenty-five people).
The park next to the church had nice benches and a whole slew of Parisians biding their time. As the African woman next to me napped, I read my magazine ("The New Oxford Review").
Some observations in the "people watching" category:
That Christians who work in areas where the conditions of the poor, weak, women, and children are most tragic, may be signs of hope, thanks to their courageous testimony to the Gospel of solidarity and love.
That the role of women may be more appreciated and used to good advantage in every country in the world.
Meg is 5 years old (this photo's from April, 2007). She's really cute, and used to be painfully shy, but has really opened up in the past year or so and runs into my arms now!
As a Godfather, I have two official duties: 1. To witness her baptism (which is already done), and 2. To have primary responsibility in teaching her the faith (in the event her parents are unable or unwilling to do so). The church encourages my selection as her sponsor for confirmation (sort of a spiritual guide during that time - early high school).
I look forward to being a part of her faith life.
Here is the schedule of Christmas and Holy Day Masses, for your reference and mine:
Solemnity of Christmas:
Wednesday, 12/24 - 4:00p OLL, 5:00p St. B, 10:30p St. B (Carol Singing begins at 10:00p)
Thursday, 12/25 - 12:00 midnight at OLL (Carol Singing begins at 11:30p), 11:00a OLL
Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (New Year's Day):
Wednesday, 12/31 - 6:00p at St. B
Thursday, 1/1 - 11:00a at OLL
I knew it was just a matter of time...
Received today via e-mail:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Twitter <twitter-follow-kieronbm=gmail.com@postmaster.twitter.com>
Date: Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Subject: Pope Benedict XVI is now following you on Twitter!
To: kieronbm@gmail.com
Hi, Kieron Mitchell.
Pope Benedict XVI (popebenedictxvi) is now following your updates on Twitter.
Check out Pope Benedict XVI's profile here:
http://twitter.com/popebenedictxvi
Best,
--
Turn off these emails at: http://twitter.com/account/notifications
That in the face of a spreading culture of violence and death, the Church, through her apostolic and missionary activities, may courageously promote a culture of life.
That the testimony of love offered by the Saints, may fortify Christians in their service to God and neighbour, imitating Christ who came not to be served but to serve.
That the Synod of Bishops may help bishops and theologians as well as catechists and pastoral workers engaged in the service of the Word of God transmit with courage the truth of the faith in communion with the entire Church.
My daughter left her purse with her iPod at church Sunday. We searched the church and the parish center Sunday evening. But someone did turn it in to the rectory, so she got it back yesterday. I'd hoped you could leave something at church and no one would steal it. Restored my faith in humanity.
As you know, Catholics believe that abortion kills a human being. Given that fact, we aren't allowed to vote for Barak Obama.
I am drawn to clear distinctions between good and evil.
This program is from RealCatholicTV.com
That those who are forced to leave home and country because of war or oppressive regimes may be supported by Christians in the defense and protection of their rights.
I've been spending a lot of time being a ChaCha guide. It's pretty addictive (to me).
What is the appeal of being a ChaCha guide?
1. Time pressure. I'm trying to get them the answer as quickly as they can. They are waiting on me (sometimes literally...they need directions somewhere). Relatedly,
2. Personal contact. Someone has asked a specific question, and I am the only one who is going to answer it (unless they ask again, or ask someone else, etc.). For that moment in time, there is a personal connection.
3. It's a window into people's lives. People are more open in this medium. I see the good, the bad, and the ugly. The next time someone tells me he doesn't think there are a lot of racist people out there, I can set him straight.
4. I get to learn. I love learning, and this is a way to help people, while learning. Everything from what Descartes and Aquinas had to say about the "Problem of the Immovable Stone" to what the difference is between 1A and Major League Baseball. Oh, and if it's something I'd rather not learn about (about 5% of the questions), I just pass the question along to someone else!
That there may be an increase in the number of those who volunteer to serve the Christian community with generous and prompt availability.
