(This is part III of a talk I gave at the NCEA Convention on using language to re-invent our schools.)
5) Our language should communicate our joyfulness! Perhaps because we unconsciously associate the idea of “carrying one’s cross” with suffering and pain, we’ve convinced ourselves that Christianity is only for the miserable. But the most authentic Christians I’ve known are people of great joy! We need to communicate that to our students and families! Our web pages should be filled with happy children and stunning HD video of our kids enjoying their classmates and teachers!
We should also make time in our school schedules for “fun” things. In my two previous schools, we were structured with “Houses” ala the British boarding schools, and the school calendar was punctuated by mini-competitions between the Houses, culminating in the “House Games” at the end of April, where we suspended classes to have academic and athletic competitions in the afternoon. At the end of the Games, we’d award the “House Cup” to the House with the most total points for the year. I encouraged kids to dress up in their house colors, in whatever crazy (but modest) way they wanted, to show their House Spirit. It was a gloriously fun, joyful day, with a lot of cheering and smiles!
It’s good to celebrate every now and then!
6) Our language needs to communicate our confidence! Our schools change lives! Do we really believe that? Then let’s communicate it!
Is that being cocky? Not at all! Here's why:
In the story of blind Bartemaeus from the gospels, Bartemaues shouts out from a distance: “Jesus, have pity on me!” Jesus hears him, but doesn’t go to him. Instead, he tells the apostles, “Go bring him to me.” So the apostles go to him and say, “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you.” And they bring him to Jesus, who heals him.
We are “ministers, not messiahs,” as the Bishop Hunthausen prayer reminds us. We are not the ones who heal. Instead, we are the ones who say to our students, “Take courage! Get up, Jesus is calling you!” Our mission is to bring students to the Lord. Our confidence in our schools to is not based on some egotistical, arrogant belief in ourselves, but in the faith we have in Christ to heal those we bring to him.
So let us boldly proclaim: Our schools change lives!
Too often pessimism creeps into our language. Especially if we’re struggling for enrollment or if our financial margins are thin, we might say, “Our hands are tied.” Or “We would if we could, but we don’t have the money." Because of scarcity, we stop dreaming. When we do that, we communicate to families that we are puny, and don’t have the "power" to fulfill our mission.
One of the mistakes we make, in this regard, is we set our tuitions too low. I know we do that out of our concern for our poorest families, and it's partly our legacy from the sisters, who worked heroically for very little pay. But if we present ourselves as the Kmart of educational choices, people will regard us as that way! In a free market economy, people equate price with quality. People say, “I wonder why they can't charge as much as everyone else?" Even our own parents think, unreflectively, that we should charge less (but offer the same or better programs as those who charge more!). We have to wean our families and communities of this notion! I believe we should aim our tuitions to the middle of the market, step-laddering them higher over a 3-5 year period, and give appropriate financial aid to help our most vulnerable families. Not only will it provide us more income to pay our teachers better and do new things, it'll reposition us in the marketplace as a school of greater value.
Can we quit thanking parents, please, for “sacrificing” to send their children to us? Literally, to “sacrifice” means to give something up and expect little in return! We don’t praise parents for “sacrificing” to purchase a new car, or to go on vacation, or to buy a new home. Why not? Because we see these things as necessary or important Paying tuition for our schools is not charity work! It’s the best investment parents can ever make in their children's future!
Do we know that small schools generally out-perform larger ones? The data is clear. At St. Michael, a school of just 350 students, I linked those research studies to our web site. Also, small schools know the students in a personal way that is nearly impossible for larger schools. When we give tours to prospective families, for example, as we go down the hallways, we should be deliberate in interacting with students: “Good hit yesterday, Johnny.” “Nice point you made in class this morning, Bill.” “I was so excited to watch you at the ballet last weekend, Susie.” Let parents understand if they send their children to our schools, we will know them personally.
I am not an expert in the martial arts, but my understanding is that “jujitsu” teaches people to use their smaller, more nimble size as an advantage against larger, stronger opponents—showing them, for example, how to “throw” aggressors when they attack, by using their momentum against them.
As smaller schools, we need to practice jujitsu! Let’s project our confidence--maybe even a little swagger!
“Clothes make the man.” There is great truth in that, which is why the military insists its soldiers wear uniforms, and why it pays such careful attention to keeping those uniforms properly washed, pressed and worn correctly. The military understands that careful attention to the exterior garb begins to make a profound difference to the soldier’s interior self-understanding and attitude.
We in Catholic schools need to “cloak” ourselves in language which reminds our teachers and families of our fundamental “why,” a language which is simple and direct, that reflects the challenge of the gospel, which welcomes families from other faiths, and that is both joyful and confident! If we do, it’ll change us from the inside out, thus “re-presenting” ourselves to our communities and towns!
May God give us the wisdom, eloquence and conviction to do so!
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