Catholic Schools Week 2010: "Dividends for Life"

The video above in which Toledo's Bishop Leonard Blair discusses the state of Catholic schools was played at this past weekend's Masses in parishes throughout the Diocese of Toledo.

Bishop Blair will be presiding over the Catholic Schools Week Mass this Friday at Norwalk Catholic School.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Mass and Lunch with Bishop Blair

Catholic Schools Week, January 25-31, 2009: "Catholic Schools Celebrate Service"

Catholic Chronicle: "Schools Initiative Spotlights Catholic Identity"

Norwalk Catholic School Offers Marine Biology Courses

May Crownings Yesterday ...

Norwalk Catholic School's Mrs. Cindy McLaughlin Announced as a Golden Apple Award Recipient by Diocese of Toledo

Catholic Schools Week 2008 - "Catholic Schools Light the Way"

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebrated at Norwalk Catholic School

Norwalk Catholic School on The Golden Compass

Two Toledo Diocesan High Schools Ranked Among Nation’s Best (Only 2 Schools in Ohio to Make List)

Yesterday: Norwalk Catholic School's "Spirit Day"

Back to School - 1st Day of Kindergarten

The Good News and Bad News of Catholic Schools Week

Catholic Schools Week

Photo of the Bishop and Jamie

More Bishop Blair (and Jamie, Too)

Digest of St. Paul State Championship Posts

Community Celebrates St. Paul's State Title

Storybook Ending

Champs!

Norwalk St. Paul Flyers are State Football Champs!

Community Celebrates St. Paul's State Title

From today's Norwalk Reflector:

MASSILLON - Saturday’s Division VI state championship for the St. Paul Flyers culminated with a wild celebration at Whitney Field.

The Flyers, 24-21 winners over Delphos St. John’s, were greeted by hundreds of well-wishers as the team buses pulled into the Whitney Field parking lot.

Whitney Field’s lights were turned on and the scoreboard read “24-21” and the time said “20:09.”

The bleachers were packed and the St. Paul High School band pumped out the fight song.

Head coach John Livengood, who is often very serious, smiled as he carried the state championship trophy on to the field.

The players and coaches took the trophy on a victory lap.

Livengood said in Saturday’s post-game press conference the victory “hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Livengood, in 19 years as head coach, has posted an overall record of 181-49.

His teams have captured 13 Firelands Conference titles, been to the playoffs 13 times, advanced to the state semifinals six times and finished as runners-up three times.

Now, add to that the 2009 Division VI state championship. Norwalk Mayor Sue Lesch has proclaimed Tuesday as “State Champion Flyer Football Day.”

The Flyer football team will be honored with a “Night of Champions” at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the St. Paul Convocation Center.

Norwalk city council has moved the time of its work session from 7:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday so council members and city officials can attend the celebration.

Saturday’s St. Paul win was special in several ways.

First, the Flyers upended the undefeated defending champs.

Second, Delphos St. John’s had never lost a Division VI title game (5-0) and had only lost one time as a Division VI playoff team.

That’s right.

Marion Local’s 24-20 over St. John’s in the 2000 state semifinals was the only time before Saturday the Blue Jays had lost in Division VI.

The Blue Jays were Division V from 2001 to 2004.

St. John had won titles in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2008.

The 1997 and 1999 wins were both over St. Paul.

Storybook Ending

From The Morning Journal:

MASSILLON — Wow. It is hard to come up for a better word describing a game will be told in hallowed terms for the rest of time in the city of Norwalk and wherever St. Paul graduates scatter across the world. With a magical ending envied by Hollywood, St. Paul won the OHSAA Division VI State Championship over defending state champion Delphos St. John's 24-21 at historic Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

With only enough time on the clock for one more play, St. Paul had the ball on the one-yard line. On the previous two plays, the Blue Jay defense had stopped quarterback Eric Schwieterman inches short of the goal line. St. Paul coach John Livengood used his last timeout and changed the play slightly.

"We took it out one gap wider," Livengood said. "We thought we would have a better chance of a double team. We talked to the kids and said it was the state championship with five seconds or whatever it was remaining, it comes down to this one play."

Schwieterman made it through the gap and the Flyers finally had their state title in their fourth state title game and seven state final four appearances.

"It was a great high school football with two great programs representing their schools," Livengood said. "It couldn’t be much better coming down the wire like that."

But the Hollywood ending began much earlier. The Flyers trailed 21-10 to start the fourth quarter and trailed 21-17 with 10:11 remaining. St. John’s then went to work on the clock. 10 plays and nearly seven minutes later, the Blue Jays had the ball on the one-yard line. A false start pushed St. John’s back to the six. The Flyer defense held on second and third down forcing the Blue Jays to a fourth and four. St. John’s head coach Todd Schulte elected to go for the sure win rather than kick a field goal to go up seven points. He said there was no thought to kick the field goal.

[...]

Senior Justin Wilde forced Jordan Leininger wide and out of bounds. St. Paul took over on the two-yard line with 3:22 remaining.

[...]

The meaning of the phrase "The Drive" is now forever changed in Huron County. The two-word phrase will bring smiles instead of tears. Schwieterman kept his composure and his teammates followed. Facing a 2nd down at the four-yard line, he found Wilde for a 36-yard gain. Three plays later it was 4th-and-3 with 1:25 remaining. Again Schwieterman turned to Wilde this time for 38 yards. Two plays later on third and five, Schwieterman called his own number and was tackled just outside the goal line setting up the winning play.

"We all knew what we had to do," Schwieterman said. "We just took the momentum we had and just tried to take plays that worked and work our way down the field. Luckily we got it all the way down."

"It was an impressive drive," Schulte said. "They stayed pretty calm and poised out there. They weren’t in a huge hurry. It worked."

Livengood credited his senior class for the victory.

"I am very proud of these kids," he said. "It really hasn’t sunk in as a state championship. It is our ultimate goal. We talked since the beginning of two a days about being a team and being a leader and everyone taking their turn being the leader. Not just one individual guy. You never know when that play is going to happen but you have to step up and make the play. You saw it tonight, every kid played a part in it. Every kid stepped up. I would like to think that is what our program is about. I am so proud of these kids because they are so determined. When it came down to being 97 yards away and I just felt with the determination of our kids we had a shot. It is their personality. It is the personality of our senior class. I couldn’t be prouder."

Schwieterman completed eight passes for 187 yards and ran it 30 times for 180 yards and three touchdowns.

"Eric had a great game," Livengood said. "Not just throwing the ball but running the ball. One of the things we felt going into the game was we needed to have Eric running the ball for us and trying to have Delphos spread out a little. Eric has good size and speed. We felt we needed to use Eric in both the running and passing game."

Schwieterman made great reads running with the ball all game.

[...]

The St. Paul defense was outstanding. The Blue Jays had only 17 plays in the first half and only 10 first downs for the game. The Blue Jays came into the game averaging 292 rushing yards a game. St. Paul held them to just 153 on 33 rushes.

[More]

Champs!

From the Sandusky Register:

As light snowflakes started to fall at dusk at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon Saturday, another improbable finish culminated in area history.

The St. Paul Flyers drove 97 yards in just over three minutes to score a touchdown with five seconds left of a 24-21 win over Delphos St. John’s in the Division VI state championship game.

Flyer quarterback Eric Schwieterman — who finished with 334 yards of total offense and three touchdowns — bulled across for the winning score from a yard out to give the area it’s fourth state championship.

On the 35th anniversary of Norwalk’s 1974 state title, the Flyers also join the 1995 Clyde Fliers and the 1999 Perkins Pirates as state champions.

In 1999 at the same stadium, Perkins’ title came on a miraculous catch with less than 30 seconds left to get the distinction of ‘The Catch.’

Ten years later, ‘The Drive’ is born for St. Paul.

“Two great programs played a great game,” St. Paul coach John Livengood said. “It don’t get much better coming down to the wire like that.”

Read more in today's Register or the ePaper.

To see photos from the state championship game click HERE

Video

Norwalk St. Paul Flyers are State Football Champs!

Way to go, Flyers!

St. Paul rallied to defeat Delphos St. John’s 24-21 today to claim the school’s first state title in football.

Flyers senior quarterback Eric Schwieterman’s third touchdown run with five seconds remaining in the game capped a 98-yard drive in the Div. VI championship game at Paul E. Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon.

Schwieterman finished with 30 carries for 147 yards.

Trailing 21-17, the Flyers’ goal-line defense was put to the test late in the fourth quarter.

St. John’s running back Jordan Leininger picked up about three yards on a fourth-and-1 run from St. Paul’s 7-yard line, retaining the ball for his team and keeping alive their hopes of scoring a touchdown that would have sealed the win.

Then, with 3:29 remaining, the Blue Jays faced a fourth-and-goal from the 3. This time, Leininger couldn’t covert, getting forced out of bounds at the 2. That gave the ball to the Flyers, who faced the daunting task of needing to go 98 yards for a game-winning score.

Throwing from his own end zone, Schwieterman connected with Justin Wilde on a 36-yard pass to give St. Paul some breathing room.

Then, on fourth-and-3 near midfield, Wilde’s 33-yard catch-and-run moved the Flyers closer to pay dirt.

Two quarterback sneaks from the 1-yard line failed to give St. Paul the necessary score. So, with seven seconds left, St. Paul head coach John Livengood called Schwieterman’s number one more time. And this time the play proved successful as the Flyers’ senior QB found the end zone.

[More]

Awesome!

MASILLON – The Division VI state championship game lasted a little over two hours Saturday, but it will be talked about for years. Needing to go 98 yards against the defending state champions with 3:22 left on the clock, Norwalk St. Paul found enough guts and lifted a huge weight off of head coach John Livengood’s shoulders.

Quarterback Eric Schwieterman propelled the Flyers to victory with his 1-yard TD run with five seconds left as St. Paul beat Delphos St. John’s 24-21 at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The Flyers were 0-3 in state title games before Saturday and were 0-2 against St. John’s. That stigma has been squashed.

“We talked to the kids and said you know the state championship’s on the line with five seconds left and it comes down to this one play,” Livengood said. “They were able to get it in.”

Schwieterman’s TD came on third down after two straight QB sneaks from the 1-yardline failed. This time Schwieterman went out one gap farther and found just enough room.

“We knew they were brining every one up the middle and there was a little bit of a crease to the outside so we figured there would be a better chance if we bounced it out,” Schwieterman said. “There was a little gap there that we were able to squeeze it into.”

When asked how close the final play was, Schwieterman said: “I had the ball across the line.”

Livengood is St. Paul football in the fact that he’s led the Flyers to all 13 of their playoff berths since taking over 20 years ago. In that time frame St. Paul has won six regional titles.

As big a part Livengood has played in making St. Paul the program it is, Schwieterman played just as large a part in Saturday’s victory.

The senior quarterback led an offense that churned out 430 yards with 147 yards rushing and three TDs on 30 carries. He also completed 8-of-13 passes for 187 yards.

Schwieterman continually made play after play against a St. John’s defense that was allowing 209 yards of offense entering the contest.

On the final drive alone the Flyer QB connected with Justin Wilde on gains of 36 and 38 yards, the latter coming on fourth-and-three from the St. Paul 48.

His legs and arm did damage.

[More]

MyHometownOhio Lists Ranking of Ohio County Seats; Norwalk Ranked a "Super County Seat"

From MyHometownOhio:

Ranking Ohio's County Seats

by Staff on Wed 22 Apr 2009 11:33 AM EDT Permanent Link

Some time ago, a member of an online forum compiled the following list of several of Ohio’s county seat towns, arranged by classification on how each respects and preserves its own built history. While you may agree or not agree with some of the selections made (nor do we at Preservation Ohio necessarily agree with them), it nevertheless provides an interesting point of discussion.

Super County Seats: Super County Seats have largely intact historic resources, have a strong preservation ethic (or at least one strong preservation project underway and which may include a preservation-based downtown revitalization program), convey a strong sense of place, have a downtown adjacent to one or more intact historic residential districts, are highly unique and potentially regionally or nationally important.

Greenville
Mount Vernon
Delaware
Circleville
Norwalk
Troy
Hillsboro
McConnelsville

[More]

(emphasis added)

Huron Co., Ohio Jobless Rate a Shocking 18.3 Percent

From yesterday's Norwalk Reflector:

Huron County’s unemployment rate jumped to a shocking 18.3 percent in January, keeping it atop the state’s 88 counties in that dubious category.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (JFS) released the county-by-county labor statistics this morning.

With a 13.5 percent unemployment rate in December, Huron County topped Ohio’s jobless rate list for what was believed to be the first time. The rate announced today is nearly 5 percentage points higher.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Huron County Auditor Roland Tkach said this morning when he heard the news. “You know, when I think of those numbers, I think about people. If you don’t have a job, you are not buying a house, not buying a car, not buying furniture. We are just in survival mode. We need to get the governor here and let him know we need some help.

“I cut back the sales tax figure 4 percent last year and 6 percent this year. I never dreamed Star Ohio would go below a half percent. That’s a state pool of more than $7 billion run by the state’s treasurer’s office,” Tkach said.

“There’s been years when 40 percent of our interest income came from Star. The difference between 0.39 and 5 percent like it was two years ago is a big deal. A lot of lost revenue that nobody has any control over.”

A year ago, Huron County’s jobless rate was 10.6 percent. Since then, the county has seen the demise of Norwalk Furniture and a substantial reduction of jobs at companies such as RR Donnelley & Sons, Mayflower Vehicle Systems Inc. and Janesville Acoustics Plant as well as Tenneco just over the border in Erie County. The January figure would not include the job cuts just announced at American Coating Specialist in Norwalk.

[More]

18.3%? That's approaching Depression-era numbers.

Mass and Lunch with Bishop Blair

Earlier today, I, along with several other supporters of Norwalk Catholic School, had lunch with Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair. The luncheon followed a special all-school Mass for Catholic Schools Week, at which Bishop Blair presided.

I had the opportunity to speak briefly with His Excellency twice. The first time was immediately after Mass. As the school kids processed out, I watched as my son Jamie shook Bishop Blair's hand, and I read his lips as he told the Bishop "I want to be a priest." The Bishop seemed delighted by that. So, after all the kids had left, I went over to see the Bishop and bragged to him that it had been my son who had told him earlier of his vocational aspirations.

Jamie tells Bishop Blair of his plans to become a priest.
(photo by Richard Russell, Norwalk Reflector)
During lunch, Bishop Blair delivered an excellent talk on Catholic education and the part that "sacrifice" plays in ensuring that Catholic education continues to exist.

After lunch, I had the opportunity to speak with Bishop Blair once more, and told him how much I appreciated his monthly column in The Catholic Chronicle (excerpts of which, as readers of this blog may know, I post here regularly).


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Photo of the Bishop and Jamie

More Bishop Blair (and Jamie, Too)

Meeting the Bishop - After Action Report

Meeting the Bishop

Catholic Schools Week, January 25-31, 2009: "Catholic Schools Celebrate Service"

This week is Catholic Schools Week.

Here in Norwalk, we have a lot of things going on in celebration of our Catholic schools. Below is a list of just some of the activities (pdf) taking place this week at Norwalk Catholic School:

Jan. 26, Monday
'St. Paul the Apostle' Presentation by Ted Swartz at 10am

Jan. 28 & 29, Wednesday & Thursday
Eucharistic Adoration in Saint Paul High School Chapel - All are Welcome!

Jan. 29, Thursday
Early Childhood Center Story Time For Tots 10:45 am

Jan. 29, Thursday
5th Grade D.A.R.E. Graduation

Jan. 29, Thursday
Spaghetti Supper 5-7 pm
Early Childhood Center Reynolds Hall

Jan. 30, Friday
All School Mass K-12 with Bishop Blair
Saint Paul Convocation Center 10am

In addition, I've been invited to attend a luncheon with Bishop Blair following Mass on Friday (probably because I'm on the Early Childhood/Elementary Advisory Board). I'm really looking forward to that.

If you're interested, you can read the talk that I delivered last year for Catholic Schools Week here. It details my family's decision to relocate to Norwalk from Virginia so that our kids could be educated in the Catholic schools here.

Finally, you should also check out the Mustardseed newsletter (pdf) to read about some of the excellent programs and opportunites offered at Norwalk Catholic School.






St. Thomas Aquinas (whose feast day is tomorrow), patron of Catholic schools, pray for us!





Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Catholic Chronicle: "Schools Initiative Spotlights Catholic Identity"

Norwalk Catholic School Offers Marine Biology Courses

May Crownings Yesterday ...

Norwalk Catholic School's Mrs. Cindy McLaughlin Announced as a Golden Apple Award Recipient by Diocese of Toledo

Catholic Schools Week 2008 - "Catholic Schools Light the Way"

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebrated at Norwalk Catholic School

Norwalk Catholic School on The Golden Compass

Two Toledo Diocesan High Schools Ranked Among Nation’s Best (Only 2 Schools in Ohio to Make List)

Yesterday: Norwalk Catholic School's "Spirit Day"

Back to School - 1st Day of Kindergarten

The Good News and Bad News of Catholic Schools Week

Catholic Schools Week

Yesterday's March for Life in Norwalk

Photos here.

Aidan and Mary Virginia walked with me. In the photo below, Mary Virginia is in purple and riding on my shoulders.

Nothing Quite So Invigorating as a Brisk Walk ...

... in -6 degree weather.

Earlier this morning, it was around -10 degrees. And the wind chill has to be around -20. It is quite frigid here in northern Ohio.

But I do love it. Especially when there's snow on the ground.

Catholic Chronicle: "Schools Initiative Spotlights Catholic Identity"

From the August issue of the Diocese of Toledo's Catholic Chronicle:

School officials and teachers will be renewing their emphasis on Catholic identity this fall as diocesan-wide planning for the future of Catholic education shifts inside the classroom.

The topic is a key part of the next phase of the Catholic Schools Initiative: 2010, a long-range planning process that began in November 2005 with the Catholic Schools Summit. The landmark gathering of representatives from every Catholic elementary and high school in the Diocese of Toledo produced the foundational mission statement, vision statement and goals for the future.

Sweeping changes that have emerged since the summit include increased collaboration between schools of the diocese and new configurations and governing structures in such regions as Norwalk, Tiffin, Defiance and Central City Ministry of Toledo.

Superintendent Jack Altenburger points out most of these efforts have taken place outside the classroom walls.

"We thought that it’s time to look at the other goals, because the other goals dealt with more about what’s going on inside the classroom," says Mr. Altenburger. "The fact is the reason we exist is because of what goes on inside the classroom."

In April, Pope Benedict XVI focused on Catholic identity when he addressed U.S. Catholic educators at the Catholic University of America in Washington.

"Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools?" asked the pope. "Is it given fervent expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of charity, a concern for justice and respect for God’s creation? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold."

Mr. Altenburger notes the topic also repeatedly emerged when Bishop Leonard P. Blair met with priests across the diocese to discuss Catholic education earlier this year.

"Our mission is to pass on the faith, and to demonstrate that in everything we do," says Mr. Altenburger.

"If all we concentrate on is what the public schools concentrate on, then we’re missing our mission," he adds. "We say it all the time: we’re not public schools, we’re not private schools, we’re Catholic schools."

***
People can expect to see schools, teachers and principals becoming more "overt" about their Catholicity in the future, according to the superintendent.

"They may see that at parent meetings and at school council meetings, Catholic identity is now a topic, as well as the math program and the science program."

[More]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Norwalk Catholic School Offers Marine Biology Courses

May Crownings Yesterday ...

Norwalk Catholic School's Mrs. Cindy McLaughlin Announced as a Golden Apple Award Recipient by Diocese of Toledo

Catholic Schools Week 2008 - "Catholic Schools Light the Way"

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebrated at Norwalk Catholic School

Norwalk Catholic School on The Golden Compass

Two Toledo Diocesan High Schools Ranked Among Nation’s Best (Only 2 Schools in Ohio to Make List)

Yesterday: Norwalk Catholic School's "Spirit Day"

Back to School - 1st Day of Kindergarten

Comerica Bank: Doing It's Part to Kill Small-Town America

Shame on them:

Comerica Bank called $11 million loan, demanding liquidation
Thursday July 24 2008, 1:38 pm

The acting CEO for Norwalk Furniture said Comerica Bank, which holds $11 million in loans for the company, has refused to even talk to several investors interested in buying out the loans and taking over the company.

***
Aversa said he finds it suspicious that Comerica would call in a loan in Ohio in which the company had paid back $2 million within the past 60 days shortly after the bank closed their Ohio offices.

“I don’t think its an accident that Comerica closed their Cleveland offices (recently), they stopped making loans in Ohio and then they show up on our doorstep and say liquidate,” Aversa said. “They know they’re never going to do any banking here. If this was in Detroit, it would not be this way.

“What’s happening here is a crazy, panicked world. The dynamics are almost like a depression,” he said. “If this company was located in Detroit or Texas, would they be treating us like this?”

[More]


Comerica Caravan
Friday July 25 2008, 1:40 pm

In just 16 hours, Norwalk Furniture employees gathered about 50 employees and headed up in a caravan to Comerica headquarters in Detroit with one message "Norwalk Furniture Calling, Answer Your Phone."

After Dominic Aversa, acting CEO in the company's reorganization, released details about Comerica's refusal to consider buyout offers and the bank's insistance on liquidation, employees finally saw a way they could join in the battle.

"I don't think they have any idea what they've done," said Kim Gross, an employee who helped organize the caravan. "We're going to show Comerica what we do for a living."

Company officials gave the employees several pieces of furniture made in Norwalk to take along to set on the sidewalk in front of the bank.

"Hopefully we can get Comerica to answer their phone," Gross said. Aversa said Thursday that bank officials wouldn't even respond to phone calls from the company or several groups of investors interested in buying out the loan and putting workers back in the factory.

The bank called company officials late last Friday afternoon insisting on full repayment of the company's $11 million loan and line-of-credit or immediate liquidation. The bank insisted the company shut down immediately, leaving about $1 million worth of unfinished orders sitting on the factory floor and finished items waiting undelivered in trucks.

***
After they rally in front of Comerica's headquarters, the Norwalk employees will head to Comerica Park, the home of the Detroit Tigers, for tonight's game against the Chicago White Sox at 7.

Gross said they will hold up their signs and talk to anyone who will listen about Comerica's treatment of businesses and employees in Ohio.

***
"Comerica paid $66 million for naming rights to Comerica Park," she said. "I guess that's their vision of community support, a little different from ours."

***
Gross also pointed out that Norwalk Furniture was the first account Comerica ever got in Ohio.

[More]

Comerica chairman, Henry F. Potter, was unavailable for comment. But a spokesman said that Mr. Potter would be willing to take on many of the Norwalk Furniture employees thrown out of work as tentants in his rental properties in "Potter's Field". The spokesman also noted that Mr. Potter was looking forward to the renaming of Norwalk as "Pottersville".

Norwalk Catholic School Offers Marine Biology Courses

Marylisa Boose writes in the June issue of the Catholic Chronicle:

NORWALK—How many high school students learn to propogate, or grow, coral and how to take care of saltwater tropical fish, a shark, a hermit crab and an eel?

Norwalk Catholic School (NCS), in the second year of its marine biology program, offers those opportunities and others. High school students also take care of five fresh-water tanks in the elementary school and give the younger students tours of the five salt-water tanks in the high school to spark an interest in marine biology at the lower grades.

NCS offered marine biology for the first time last year with a class of only four students. This year, 30 students signed up for the program so Mike Wasiniak is teaching two sections of the course.

Mr. Wasiniak gives much of the credit for the success of the course to Scott Lee, a friend who is a construction worker by day, but has always had an interest in marine biology. He built the five tanks at the high school and helps to maintain the program.

One reason Mr. Wasiniak was able to add the marine biology classes to the science program at NCS is the addition built onto the school two years ago. The science classrooms were expanded to add the latest equipment and Mr. Wasiniak’s classroom, which had a tank 3 feet high, 3 feet wide and 2 feet high, had room for more tanks.

[More]

My Comments:
You learn something new every day. I'm fairly active in the Norwalk Catholic School system (in addition to having kids in the school, I'm on the NCS Early Childhood/Elementary Advisory Board), and this is the first I've heard of this Marine Biology program.

And before you ask, yes, NCS is also big on promoting Catholic identity. In fact, the entire Diocese of Toledo is involved in a Catholic school initiative that seeks to build Catholic identity within the diocese's Catholic schools:

... In the fall of 2007, Bishop Blair scheduled regional meetings with the priests of the diocese. These meetings emphasized the importance of the Catholic identity of our schools. It is clear that the “Catholicity” of our schools is of primary importance. Schools need to demonstrate their effectiveness of passing on the faith to students. This seems to be calling us to focus on specifically what is happening in the classroom with the students...

If you want your kids to get a good quality (and fairly affordable) Catholic education, I invite you to come to the Diocese of Toledo, and to Norwalk Catholic School in particular.

That's how our family wound up here.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
May Crownings Yesterday ...

Norwalk Catholic School's Mrs. Cindy McLaughlin Announced as a Golden Apple Award Recipient by Diocese of Toledo

Catholic Schools Week 2008 - "Catholic Schools Light the Way"

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebrated at Norwalk Catholic School

Norwalk Catholic School on The Golden Compass

Two Toledo Diocesan High Schools Ranked Among Nation’s Best (Only 2 Schools in Ohio to Make List)

Yesterday: Norwalk Catholic School's "Spirit Day"

Back to School - 1st Day of Kindergarten

May Crownings Yesterday ...

... at the Norwalk Catholic School Early Childhood Center ...

In Jamie's Kindergarten classroom

Jamie dressed for the occasion

Our Lady's crown in front of the altar in St. Mary Parish



Jamie's class sings after Communion

Jamie's teacher Miss Smith hands him Our Lady's crown prior to the Recessional

Recessing out of the church



Processing to the statue of Our Lady in front of the school







The crowning ceremony

One more of Jamie

And one of Mary Virginia



... and in the Anderson family's Mary Garden ...

The Processional
Mary Virginia carries a bottle of Holy Water from Walsingham;
Aidan carries a copy of Mary's Flowers, which contains a blessing for a Mary Garden;
Jamie carries the image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus;
and Dad carries Grace Assumpta

Approaching the "grotto"

Jamie places the statue


Blessing the Mary Garden

Ah, the Local Color in These Parts: Elyria Judge Has Che Guevara Poster in Office

(Hat tip: Jonathan Adler at The Corner)

This Morning Journal story is from just down the road in Elyria:

ELYRIA -- Framed posters of Barack Obama, Che Guevara and Henry David Thoreau hang in the office of Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge.

The judge, who is conducting hearings on the constitutionality of Ohio's method for putting prisoners to death, said he respects those who back up words with action and that Thoreau, the 19th-century philosopher, was his first role model.

"I tend to admire people who in my opinion go beyond their speech -- they actually do what they say," Burge said.

[More]

(emphasis added)

My Comments:
How's 100 million dead people for "backing up words with actions"?



And, for the record, your honor:





Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Monument to Che Guevara, Erected by Castro-Loving Commie Bastard™ Hugo Chávez, Destroyed

Castro-Loving Commie Bastard™ Replaces Statue of Virgin Mary with Bust of Che Guevara

What I Got at the Revolution

Norwalk Catholic School's Mrs. Cindy McLaughlin Announced as a Golden Apple Award Recipient by Diocese of Toledo

Announced at the Norwalk Catholic School website:

Mrs. Cindy McLaughlin has just been announced as a Golden Apple Award Recipient by the Diocese of Toledo.

Mrs. McLaughlin teaches the Young Five's Class at the Early Childhood Center at Norwalk Catholic School. She has also developed the Good Shepherd religious formation program for all the students in preschool thru kindergarten at the Early Childhood Center.

My Comments:
Mrs. McLaughlin was Jamie's pre-K (Young Five's) teacher last year, and she really helped him advance a lot in that year he was in her class (especially in light of the fact that he was a "Young Four" rather than a Young Five).

Mrs. McLaughlin is currently Jamie's religion teacher in the Good Shepherd Program that she created for the Norwalk Catholic School Early Childhood Center. That once-a-week class is Jamie's favorite. Mrs. McLaughlin is one of the teachers who recently remarked that Jamie is destined for the priesthood.

Congratulations on this much-deserved award, Mrs. McLaughlin!

Norwalk Saw Trio of Local Connections to Pope’s Visit

From Mary Lisa Boose, staff writer for The Norwalk Reflector:

Norwalk had three local connections to the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States — music written by a St. Paul graduate was used in both New York City Masses and a former associate pastor at St. Paul was a con-celebrate of the service at St. Patrick Cathedral.

For the Mass at Yankee Stadium, another SPH grad now a priest was chosen to be a Eucharistic minister.

Mike Hay, a 1971 graduate of St. Paul High School, was active in music ministry his entire life. He died in 1999, but his faith lives on in the many liturgical pieces he wrote over the years.

Grace Hay Whitehurst, his sister, said she was surprised when she found out Hay's composition called Trilingual Intercessions was used at services at St. Patrick Cathedral and Yankee Stadium. She said he wrote it in 1994 to be sung in English, Latin and Spanish.

[More]

(emphasis added)

My Comments:
It should be noted that commentators have almost universally praised the music in the NYC Masses.

Norwalk in the News: State Rep Resigns Over Nude Photos [UPDATED]

I couldn't let this big news story from last week - which originated right here in Norwalk - pass without making note of it:

Rep. Matthew Barrett, whose computer displayed an image of a topless woman during a presentation to a Norwalk High School social studies class, has resigned.

The image was projected after Barrett, a Democrat [ED.: Hey, what do you know? Mentioned his party affiliation in the 2nd paragraph rather than burying it deeper into the story as usually happens when the offender is a Democrat. Of course, had he been a Republican, it would have been the first word of the first paragraph.] from Amherst, inserted a data memory stick into the computer for an Oct. 2 lecture on how a bill becomes a law. He was speaking to a U.S. government class of about 20 seniors at NHS. [ED.: Thank God this wasn't at Norwalk Catholic School.]

Barrett first said he didn’t know how the image had become intermingled with his graphics presentation. After it appeared on the screen, the state lawmaker immediately shut down the computer and finished the presentation using paper handouts.

A later review by the Norwalk police, with help from the state Highway Patrol, found one of Barrett’s four children had downloaded the image. [ED.: Yeah, right, let's blame the kid.] Ohio House Democratic leader Joyce Beatty said Barrett acknowledged not being truthful about the matter and she immediately demanded his resignation Thursday.

***
House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, told the Columbus Dispatch she was “shocked and appalled because we had all embraced him because the issue involved his son.”

"I have no tolerance for someone not being truthful about that incident. He acknowledged that he knew who the women were in those photos [ED.: Yeah, sure, it was the kid.], and he had not been forthright with us or the voters."

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported in today’s editions a lawmaker was told there were nude photos of two women from Barrett’s district on the memory stick used during the presentation.

“The pictures were of women he knows from back in his district,” said the House member, whom the newspaper did not identify. [ED.: Like I said, yeah, let's blame the kid. Right.]

[More]

(emphasis and editorial commentary added)

My Comments:
Ohio Republicans aren't smart enough to know how to turn this incident into a "Mark Foley moment" for the Ohio Democrat Party. And at least the Democrat House Minority Leader had the decency to ask for this guy's resignation, which, as we all know, doesn't generally happen when the perpetrator is a Democrat and the scandal is "all about sex".


UPDATE
Meanwhile, Barrett has received a major award: "Girlieman of the Week".