CHARLOTTE — Members of the 2017-’18 Student Advisory Board for the Diocese of Charlotte Schools met for the first time this school year Dec. 13 with Dr. Janice Ritter, superintendent; Debbie Mixer, assistant superintendent; and other school administrators.
Established by Ritter when she became superintendent in 2012, the board is comprised of students from the diocese’s three high schools: Bishop McGuinness in Kernersville, Charlotte Catholic, and Christ the King in Huntersville. Its aim is to connect diocesan schools leadership directly with students, particularly on school programs and issues important to young people.
“Meeting with our young people provides me with insights and a perspective that I would not gain otherwise,” Ritter said. “I find these students to be thoughtful, reflective and articulate. I value the time I spend with this group and I am grateful for their willingness to give their time to serve in this capacity.”
Members are: Matt Kelly, Isaac Kohl, Lexi Marty, Carter Shannon and Mary Walsh of Bishop McGuinness High School; Patrick Collins, Juliana Hancock, John Kelly, Mae Levin, Samantha Pean, Astrid Salinas, Kristopher Welch and Ramsey White of Charlotte Catholic High School; and Kaitlyn Kogler, Luke Langbo, AJ McMahon and James Metz of Christ the King High School.
Although board members are high school students, they are asked to consider issues from the perspective of all students. Serving on the board also provides them with the opportunity to talk with their peers in other schools. Board members may serve for up to two years.
At their Dec. 13 meeting, students were asked to reflect on the value of their Catholic education and articulate those points in a format that can be shared in the future.
Joining the meeting were Kurt Telford, principal at Charlotte Catholic; Dr. Carl Semmler, principal at Christ the King; and Leslie Redmon, media center director, of Bishop McGuinness.
In addition to engaging in discussions, the board is also charged with certain tasks. Over the years board members have developed a brochure for beginning teachers expressing the qualities of effective teachers, created a video tribute to teachers that was shared with teachers at a diocesan-wide professional development day, and met with visiting members of the accreditation team with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS-CASI), a division of AdvancEd.
During this coming year the board has three projects it hopes to complete: create a document that articulates the qualities students appreciate in their teachers; develop a video, inclusive of all 19 schools, which clearly shows how we live our mission in Catholic schools; spearhead a joint service project for all schools in the diocese.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
‘Go to Jesus, He can help you’
HUNTERSVILLE — Christ the King High School students welcomed Bishop Peter Jugis for Mass Jan. 30 for Catholic Schools Week.
Bishop Jugis addressed the students, faculty and families gathered for the Catholic Schools Week Mass during his homily, drawing from the Gospel of Mark 5:21-43, which highlights intercessory prayer and faith in God’s mercy.
Speaking about how Jairus, one of the synagogue officials, is a model of prayer for us, Bishop Jugis pointed out how Jairus came forward and asked Jesus to heal his daughter.
“How does he know that Jesus can do something for him?” Bishop Jugis asked. “The reason is that somehow He already spoken to the heart of Jairus and given him some grace, some initial faith, telling him, ‘Go to Jesus. He can help you. Go to Jesus.’”
Jairus responds to that faith that God has already given him, Bishop Jugis continued. “And just as the woman in the Gospel who suffered for years, how does she know to go to Jesus? God has already given her a gift of faith. God is already speaking to her somehow: ‘Go to Jesus. He is the one who can help you.’”
Bishop Jugis pointed out that both people in the Gospel respond to that inner prompting of grace.
“We see Jesus is very happy to respond to their requests for help,” he noted.
“Jesus says elsewhere in the Gospel to His disciples, ‘I will come to you and I will make my dwelling place with you.’ He has come to each one of you to make His dwelling place with you. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. He comes and spends His life with us, to be with us at every moment.”
Jesus “desires a relationship with you,” he said. “God desires a relationship with you. God desires a relationship with us so much that He’s already reaching out to us before we even know it. He is coming to us. He is reaching out to us.
“He has an eternal desire to be in relationship with you, for you to know Him and for you to love him. He’s happy to give you that grace.”
Looking out over the students, Bishop Jugis encouraged them, “Go to Jesus, He can help you. Isn’t it a wonderful sign of the covenant relationship between God and you, how He is acting interiorly in your heart?
“You all know it. You all experience it, if you take a moment to reflect how the Lord is with you, how He is speaking to you, prompting you and motivating you.”
He enjoined the students to “do what is right. Turn away from what is wrong. Love, don’t hate. Be reconciled, don’t continue to be at odds with others. All of these are promptings of God’s graces, and we can choose in faith whether we’ll follow that grace or if we have another agenda.”
He also encouraged them to pray for their families, for the sick, and for those who having difficulties – mentioning them by name to the Lord.
“Pray also for those who have hurt you, or from whom you are estranged. I assure you, anytime that you can actually start praying for someone who has hurt you or from whom you are estranged, whatever anger or animosity is in your heart starts to dissipate,” he said.
“It’s not worth living with animosity or anger, or whatever distance there may be. Prayer, coming before the Lord’s love, collapses the distance and makes you one with that person at least spiritually.”
“Pray for those whom you love. And then it’s in the Lord’s hands. He does what He wills. He always answers prayers in His way.”
At the end of Mass, Dr. Carl Semmler, principal of Christ the King High School, gave the bishop a spiritual bouquet, a gift bag filled with prayer cards from the students who had offered sacrifices and prayers for him in advance of his visit.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
