Catholic Schools Week Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 in the 255 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Local school activities include special Masses, open houses and visits from archdiocesan and civic representatives. For more information about events visit the Catholic schools’ Web site schools.archchicago.org. Pastor, two teachers receive NCEA awards Father Pat Lee, founding and current pastor of Immaculate Conception School on North Park Avenue, will receive the National Catholic Education Association’s Distinguished Pastor Award. According to the NCEA’s Web site, the annual award, established in 2007, is presented by the NCEA Department of Elementary Schools to honor pastors who have given outstanding support to Catholic elementary education. The formal application included four letters of recommendation: one from the school’s principal, Katie Sullivan; one from a teacher; another from a parent; and a fourth from a school board member. The criteria for the award specify that the pastor must possess a clear philosophy of Catholic education, provide spiritual guidance to the school, participate in school activities, work with the school board and/or parent association, support the school administration, engage the community in providing financial support to the school and receive the necessary recommendations. Adrian Dominican Sister Marion O’Connor, social studies and religion teacher at Regina Dominican High School, Wilmette, is one of six recipients of the NCEA’s Secondary Schools Department Award for 2010. The NCEA Secondary Schools Department award honors significant leadership and service contributions to Catholic high school education. The award brings national recognition to the achievements of six outstanding educators who reflect the richness and diversity of American Catholic education. Sister O’Connor’s goal as teacher is “to create a love of history, to experience a love for truth and beauty and to lead students to make value-filled decisions.” Through her seminar on legal issues and the criminal court program, O’Connor has helped produce some of Illinois’s finest judges and speakers on legal matters. “It is always amazing to us the number of clerks, lawyers and judges who were former students. Everyone knows Sister Marion,” remarked one of her co-instructors. For 60 years, O’Connor has served in the ministry of Catholic education and for the past 45 years at Regina Dominican, where she influences hundreds of young women. Julie Szwedo Noigebauer of Chicago’s Immaculate Conception School on Talcott Avenue is one of 12 teachers from across the United States to receive the 2010 NCEA Distinguished Teacher Award from the Department of Elementary Schools. According to principal Bernadette Felicione, Noigebauer “demonstrates courageous and collaborative leadership, she invites her students to participate in a supportive and safe environment, and every member is encouraged and expected to do their best. She shows how to live your faith through stewardship. She teaches her students that a group of adolescents can change the world.” The recipients will receive their awards in April at the NCEA’s 2010 Convention. High School placement test On Jan. 9, nearly 9,000 eighthgrade students took the high school placement test at 37 Catholic high schools throughout the archdiocese. Additional placement test opportunities may still be available to incoming high school freshmen. For more information, check with a local Catholic high school in the archdiocese. Nativity BVM goes 4G Wireless thanks to Clear and Motorola Nativity BVM students will take a leap into 4G wireless computing with a donation of 20 laptop computers and 20 wireless USB devices provided by Motorola and Clear. Clear and Motorola selected Nativity BVM as a partner school for their proposal to use the technology to support inquiry-based instruction, moving them away from an emphasis on “what they know” to a focus on “how they know.” Through questioning, searching, and communicating with others, Nativity BVM students will now be able to learn at an even higher level and in a much more mobile way. They will develop a greater understanding of the world in which they live, learn and will work. Maria High School poet wins first place Maria High School senior Patricia Varona, of Gage Park, recently captured first place in the Poetry Category of the 2009 Red Ribbon Poster/Poetry Contest, sponsored by the archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Schools. Varona placed first in the 9th to 12th grade level. The goal of the contest was to write a poem reflecting the theme “Drug Free Is the Key.” Varona received her first place certificate and a $50 Borders gift card from the Office of Catholic Schools at Maria High School’s Semester I Awards Assembly. Distinguished Service Award Dinner The Archdiocese of Chicago Board of Catholic Schools will hold its first “Distinguished Service Awards Dinner” at the Chicago Marriott on Feb. 21. The dinner will honor Elaine M. Schuster, former superintendent of schools for the archdiocese; Father Timothy Scully, C.S.C., director for educational initiatives at the University of Notre Dame; and Joshua Hale, executive director of the Big Shoulders Fund. Also recognized will be this year’s U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools, the National Catholic Educational Association Award Winners and 25 “Distinguished Service Award Educators” from elementary and high schools in the archdiocese. Catholic Schools and Annual Catholic Appeal During Masses that open Catholic Schools Week on Jan. 31, Catholic school students will offer testimony for the Annual Catholic Appeal, which also begins that day. As the Annual Catholic Appeal funds numerous ministries and agencies in the archdiocese, it is also the largest philanthropic source of funding for all of the Catholic schools. With the cooperation of pastors and principals, students have been selected to make brief statements at the close of the pastor’s homily. Even in parishes that do not have a school, students from neighboring parishes have been selected to say a few words about the value of Catholic school education. Notre Dame Latino Task Force for Catholic Schools and the archdiocese On Feb. 10 from 4-6 p.m. at Maria High School, the University of Notre Dame and the Office of Catholic Schools will host a reception to share findings from the recent nation-wide report titled, “To Nurture the Soul of a Nation: Latino Families, Catholic Schools, and Educational Opportunity.” Also discussed will be responses in the archdiocese to the recommendations outlined in the report.