Remarks at the Blue Ribbon
Celebration
Bob Herring
Principal
We’ve come from near and far to be
together this evening. We’ve come from across town and across the
state and from Germany to celebrate our recognition as a Blue Ribbon
School, and to give thanks to all who have made this possible:
- the parishioners who support this school,
- the teachers who work hard providing the opportunities for students
to learn,
- the students who work hard taking advantage of those opportunities,
- and the parents who work hard to fund and support this work we do.
We’ve come to celebrate our designation
by the United States Department of Education as a No Child Left Behind
- National Blue Ribbon School. That means our test scores are very good;
our students are learning. Their achievement is in the top 10% of private
schools in the nation. With 5 National Merit Semi-Finalists since 2004
and with seven of the last nine valedictorians at Purcell Marian High
School graduates of Nativity, we knew we were headed in the right direction.
But it’s about more than test scores.
The application process was our opportunity to tell our story –
the story of solid academics with a global perspective, where arts and
technology are integrated within the curriculum – all rooted in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s a story of creative and hard working
teachers committed to this community.
You can find them spending three days in
the woods at Camp Kern or preparing students for First Communion, attending
a conference in China, alone in a cab in Beijing with a driver who doesn’t
speak English and is headed in the wrong direction.
You can find them attending graduate classes
and workshops, planning lessons, developing rubrics, emphasizing higher
level thinking skills, and grading papers.
They’re at the Wax Museum of Saints
and the Publishing Center, on a fossil hunt in French Park, and looking
for the Ginger Bread Man.
They helping students form a caring and sharing
community, dissect frogs and mummify chickens, and take the Journey to
the Other Side.
They’re teaching the principles of design,
how to produce a Variety Show, and the value of good sportsmanship.
They are searching for ways to integrate
technology, to live the liturgical year, and make the Gospel relevant.
It’s a story of inquisitive and conscientious students willing
to serve others and eager to meet students from abroad. You can find
them in the library or on the Internet, working at the Caring Place
or visiting the nursing home. You can see them mature over the years
figuring out how this cooperative learning thing works and struggling
to understand what it means to really believe that all are welcome.
This is the story we told.
It’s a story of parents who love their children, care deeply about
their community, and are willing to work hard and sacrifice to support
their school. It’s a story of the partnership between home and
school, and this is the story we told.
Our journey to this moment didn’t begin yesterday or last year
or 10 years ago. The thread can be traced all the way back to the beginning,
back to 1921 when our parish school, staffed by the Ursuline Sisters
of Cincinnati, first opened its doors: 4 classrooms, 2 grades per room.
Their faith and determination carried them through.
In the mid 1920s with the advent of Fr. Bartel and the Sisters of Mercy,
the people of Nativity remained faithful to that vision of what this
parish and its school could be.
Challenged by the Depression, the 2nd World War, and all that came with
the post war baby boom; they rolled up their sleeves and got the job
done. Fr. Bartel was a man of faith who expected the very best from
his students. He, the Sisters, and the lay men and women who worked
with them made a good team.
Fr. Allison led this community through the post Vatican II era, challenged
by those who thought we moved too slowly implementing the liturgical
changes and challenged by those who thought we were losing touch with
our traditions. Fr. Allision, Deacon Art, the Sisters, and the lay men
and women who worked with them made a good team. They rolled up their
sleeves and got the job done.
Building on those who went before them, Fr. Stan, Deacon Art, Sr. Carren,
and Fr. Paul forged a vision that broadly defines Nativity School today: the arts and technology integrated within a challenging academic
program with an emphasis on global education – all rooted in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
They and the lay men and women who worked with them made a good team.
We gather to honor the memory of those who have gone before us, whose
shoes we fill, in whose footsteps we follow and we honor those who now
fill those shoes: the Mayor-elect of our city and the leaders of our
community and village councils who believe passionately that Cincinnati
and its adjacent communities are wonderful places to live and raise
a family, and who work unceasingly to make it so.
We honor our colleagues in the Office for Catholic Schools: our Superintendent
Bro. Joe Kamis and our Assistant Superintendents Jan Kennedy and Pat
Armstrong who believe passionately in Catholic education and have given
their lives to lead, support and sustain our Catholic schools.
We honor the people of our parish throughout its history who have been
and now are committed to this urban faith community, who have sacrificed
much for Nativity, who dig deep to support their school, who believe
in the value of Catholic education.
We honor the teachers who work hard at providing opportunities each
and every day for the students entrusted to their care; opportunities
that will enable these students to grow in wisdom and grace with the
skills they need to succeed; opportunities that will enable them to
understand their connection to the global community and the importance
of their relationship to God.
We honor our teachers who have sacrificed much in their response to
the call to teach as Jesus did.
We honor our students who take advantage of those opportunities, who
work hard, who strive to do their very best - who roll up their sleeves
to get the job done.
We honor our parents who understand the importance of the home-school
connection and work hard to make that connection solid and supportive,
parents who understand the importance of Catholic education and sacrifice
to make it possible.
We stand here tonight celebrating where we’ve come and what we’ve
accomplished.
We look to the future believing without a doubt that there are great
years ahead for this school, this parish and the communities we serve,
aware that, just as there were in the past, there will always be challenges
ahead. But, like those who have gone before us, we will roll up our
sleeves and get the job done.
That’s Nativity. That is who we are. We make a good team.
When we got the phone call from the Department of Education that we
were a Blue Ribbon School, Fr. Paul and I met with the faculty after
school to announce the news. Amid the applause and toasts, Hauke Meyhofer,
our German intern who had been with us less than a month, said: I didn’t need a Blue Ribbon to know that Nativity’s a great
place to be.
Thanks and thanks again for all you do.
Blue Ribbon Celebration:
Thanks to All
How many ways is Nativity a great place to be? Dozens and dozens --
all on display two Fridays ago as the community gathered to celebrate
Nativity's designation as a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon
School. From the moment the fourth-graders headed up the church aisle
with their recorders to the moment the last of the cookie crumbs was
swept away, the evening pulsed with warmth and gratitude for the many
blessings bestowed on our parish. As with all successful events, many
people are due thanks:
~ Todd Zoellick of the U.S. Department of
Education, for his generous remarks in presenting the award.
~ Student Council President Lauren Holt,
for presenting council's well-crafted proclamation to the school.
~ Brother Joe Kamis, superintendent of Catholic
Schools, for representing the archdiocese with kindness and grace.
~ Fourth- and fifth-grade students, under
the direction of Bob Hatfield and Joe Beiting, for top-notch musical
accompaniment.
Mark Mallory, Cincinnati Mayor-Elect,
for representing the governor's and mayor's offices well.
~ Barb Daugherty, for producing the moving
and highly professional Blue Ribbon videos.
~ Sarah Hilton, for coordinating the bountiful
and beautiful dessert banquet.
~ Julie and Doug Olberding, for expert handling
of the T-shirt order for the kids and fleecewear order for the faculty
and staff.
~ Greg and Kathleen Bell, for generously
opening their home for a faculty/staff gathering.
~ Nancy Ciarniello, for producing the program,
assisting with the videos and handling a myriad of other invisible but
necessary tasks.
~ All other members of the Blue Ribbon School
Committee, for overseeing banners, bumper stickers, signs, flowers and
many other details.
~ All donors, especially major contributors
(Nativity PTA, Boosters and Jamie and Brian Cusick) for their vital
support.
~ Bob Herring and Fr. Paul DeLuca, Nativity
principal and pastor, for a smooth and seamless ceremony and for their
many, many good works for Nativity each and every day.All those in attendance, for sharing and
spreading the joy of being part of Nativity
Patti Newberry, for the Blue
Ribbon School Committee
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Mr.
Herring and Fr. Paul DeLuca
with Bro. Bill Campbell
at the NCEA Blue Ribbon Reception, November 10. |
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