‘Carry with you humble, thankful hearts into the future’
The Class of 2021 of Charlotte Catholic High School, Christ the King High School and Bishop McGuinness High School gathered with Bishop Peter Jugis, their friends and family for their respective baccalaureate Masses May 25, 24 and 27. (Photos by SueAnn Howell, Amy Burger and Katie Williams)CHARLOTTE — Before graduating from what has been a year like none other, the Class of 2021 was able to enjoy a baccalaureate Mass together in person with their bishop.
Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced churches to close and state regulations made large gatherings impossible.
With restrictions eased just days before graduation season, hundreds of members of the Class of 2021 and their families were able to attend Mass with Bishop Peter Jugis near their local parishes.
Bishop Jugis celebrated special Masses last week for each of the Diocese of Charlotte’s three high schools, personally congratulating the graduating seniors.
He traveled May 24 to Christ the King High School at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, May 25 to Charlotte Catholic High School at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, and May 27 for Bishop McGuinness High School at Holy Cross Church in Kernersville.
At each baccalaureate Mass, the Class of 2021 packed into the pews, happy to celebrate together after a school year marked by mask mandates, social distancing and virtual classes.
During his homily, Bishop Jugis shared the history of the baccalaureate Mass and how it began sometime in the late Middle Ages as a way for students to come together one last time before graduation to thank God for the many blessings they received during the course of their education.
“You, the graduating Class of 2021, come to this baccalaureate Mass in that spirit of thanksgiving which denotes the baccalaureate, in order to thank God for all of the blessings that you have received and all that you have been able to accomplish with God’s help,” he said.
He noted how this class of seniors has truly achieved a lot to arrive at this milestone in their lives – not just this year but in all of their years of study.
“St. Paul tells us, be thankful. Have gratitude in your hearts to God. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” Bishop Jugis said. “Good advice that St. Paul gives us this day and to all Christians all the time.”
“A humble heart is able to be thankful,” he continued. “A humble heart knows that it is to God, first of all, that the prayer of thanks must be made.
“So many good things have been given to you, graduating seniors. And so many opportunities for growth have been offered to you by God, who is gracious and good. Be thankful to Him.”
Bishop Jugis also urged them to be thankful to their parents, family, teachers and friends for all the ways they have sacrificed and enriched their lives.
“Your faith in God… has given you an excellent, strong foundation to stand on as you build your life – a foundation of faith that will never fail you,” he said. “Be thankful to God for your faith, which is a gift He has given you.”
“Carry with you humble, thankful hearts into the future.”
The Class of 2021
Bishop McGuinness High School graduated 93 seniors, who will attend a total of 40 colleges and universities in 15 states this fall. They earned more than $5.6 million in scholarships.
Twelve graduating BMHS seniors have signed to play 11 different collegiate sports at 12 different colleges and universities.
Charlotte Catholic High School graduated 274 seniors who will attend a total of 79 colleges and universities in 24 states, plus the District of Columbia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. They have earned $20,233,419 in scholarships.
Seventeen graduating CCHS seniors have signed to play eight different collegiate sports at 16 different colleges and universities.
Christ the King High School graduated 83 seniors who will attend a total of 49 colleges and universities in 15 states. One graduate will serve in the U.S. Navy.
They have earned $8,642,286 in scholarships.
Three graduating CTKHS seniors have signed to play three different collegiate sports at three colleges and universities.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
GASTONIA — St. Michael School is incorporating a new Catholic liberal arts curriculum in the classical model, phased in over three years starting this fall. Already, the move is attracting interest from parents and increased enrollment.
Classical education is an effective and increasingly popular model for private schools, and it is rooted in the Catholic tradition.
In a classical education or academy model, students are taught how to learn and think critically – going above the already rigorous language arts and STEM curriculum standards the school currently has in place. In this time-tested and research-based approach, students develop not just intellectually but also spiritually, emotionally and socially as lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
St. Michael School has a distinguished history of educating thousands of students over the past seven decades, but in recent years the school has struggled to remain sustainable.
At the end of the 2015-’16 school year, the parish took out a loan from the Diocese of Charlotte to help cover a shortfall of $198,000. The subsequent year, the diocese took on the financial operations of the school while leaders began evaluating how to set the school apart and position it in what has become a competitive private education marketplace.
Since announcing its transition plans last fall, the parish has offered a series of talks called “Hearts United” to inform parents and parishioners about the Church’s role in education. Principal Michelle Vollman has also shared information about classical liberal arts through “Coffee with the Principal” meetings and weekly newsletters.
“I believe that Catholic liberal arts is going to be something wonderful for our school,” Vollman said. “It will really help us grasp hold of our Catholic identity and give the students the tools and the strategies that they need to be lifelong learners and thinkers for themselves.”
Thanks to these communications efforts, the school has already seen an enrollment increase of XX percent – 30 new students – for the fall.
Curriculum enhancements will be implemented over the next three years, and are being made in consultation with the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. ICLE aims to equip Catholic educators to renew today’s Catholic schools by drawing on the Church’s tradition of education and pursuit of faith, wisdom and virtue.
The school has already received two visits from Colleen Richards, an ICLE consultant, offering teacher workday trainings and classroom observations.
“What does the Church give us in education? We have 2,000 years of tradition here… There is a huge tradition that we have to draw upon, so we are very glad to help St. Michael’s to access it and bring it to life in their classrooms,” Richards said.
“I’m excited about the Catholic liberal arts transition, because of its ability to renew Catholic education, and it renews Catholic education in re-introducing something in the human person which we all have, which is wonder,” said Father Lucas Rossi, pastor, in a video the school released this spring. “What we want to preserve is that wonder for the good, the true and the beautiful – to preserve that all of the time they are at St. Michael School.”
Math and science teacher Maria Boylan is looking forward to sharing the new curriculum with her students. “To me classical education, liberal arts education, is going to be such a refreshing way for me (to teach). I have always believed in curiosity and encouraging wonder, and just the love of learning. So it’s really, truly bringing out the best in children. I believe every child is gifted and I think this program is going to focus on enhancing their giftedness and bringing it forward.”
Parent Robert Sawyer said he and his wife Katie were both raised Catholic and want to provide a similar foundation for their children. “We appreciated the solid foundation that provided, not only from the spiritual sense, but also the liberal arts education,” he said.
Father Rossi described a Catholic liberal arts education as helping to revive within children the desire to keep learning – not just to ask, “What do I have to do to do well on this test?” or to think, “When am I going to need this in life again?”
He said the school hopes the new educational approach will “get away from this sense that education is only supposed to be pragmatic, and to make it just useful for someone, but rather shows us how to be truly human, which is to be in union – heart, mind, body and soul – with our Creator, our heavenly Father, and Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life to that relationship.”
— SueAnn Howell and Patricia Guilfoyle, Catholic News Herald
Learn More
At www.stmichaelcs.com: Learn more about St. Michael School’s three-year transition to a Catholic liberal arts curriculum starting this fall.