HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark Catholic School is celebrating the canonization of the Blessed Mother Teresa Sept. 2.
The first Friday of the month at St. Mark School is typically a dress down for $1 day — a day when the students donate a dollar for the privilege to dress in street clothes rather than their school uniform.
As part of this long-standing tradition, the school then donates all of the money to a different charity each month.
All of the money raised Sept. 2 will go to Missionaries of Charity in Charlotte in honor of Saint Teresa of Calcutta. In addition, the students were asked to dress in blue and white and will learn about the life and work of Saint Teresa.
A special banner was also created to remain in the lobby of the school as a further reminder of her message of love and mercy. Monsignor Richard Bellow, Dean of Students, specifically selected the printed quote as a message to the students and to all who enter the school:
"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
Pictured, left to right: Michael Buck, Mark McMahon, Kelsey Keegan, Bianca Andexler, Mallory Foglesong, Caroline Tuschong (front), Lauren Munn, Anna Bowman, David Fisher and middle school religion and language arts teacher, Chris Ostrom.
—Submitted by Amy Burger
CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools is enlisting the help of school leaders, parents and other stakeholders to conduct a feasibility study related to a MACS fine arts center on the campus of Charlotte Catholic High School.
The proposed fine arts center would serve all of the students in the nine Charlotte area schools, not just Charlotte Catholic. It is part of a larger 10-year MACS capital plan that also includes “a comprehensive strategy to improve/enhance the facilities of all schools,” said Dr. Janice Ritter, diocesan schools superintendent, in a letter to MACS parents.
In a July 6 letter, Ritter also announced a Pre-Campaign Advisory Committee has been formed to assist MACS on the capital campaign feasibility study. The committee is comprised of representatives from the MACS School Board, the MACS Education Foundation, the Charlotte Catholic High School Foundation Board, MACS PTO leaders and the principals of Charlotte Catholic and Holy Trinity Middle schools. Additional members include a cross-section of past and current parents of MACS students.
“Committee members will meet quarterly to offer their advice as MACS moves forward with preliminary plans leading up to the capital campaign feasibility study,” Ritter said.
The feasibility study would specifically examine the possibility of a capital campaign that would fund construction of a MACS fine arts center on the campus of Charlotte Catholic, adjacent to the gymnasium area.
“This Fine Arts Center will be used by all of MACS schools and be available to the broader community, fulfilling a long-time goal of the Diocese of Charlotte,” Ritter noted.
A MACS Fine Arts Center has been an idea that diocesan and school officials have had since 1995, when they bought the building on Pineville-Matthews Road which now houses Charlotte Catholic. Over the years the plan has remained on the back burner, though, as capital fee revenues have been used instead to build new schools and renovate existing ones for the growing Catholic population in Charlotte. MACS has seen enrollment swell since it was formed in 1992 to consolidate the Charlotte-area parish schools: from five schools with 2,420 students to nine schools with about 4,800 students this year.
In her letter, Ritter said a project of this size will require a special capital campaign, not just use of the capital fee which every family of a MACS student pays.
Such a capital campaign would have to wait at least until after the diocesan “Forward in Faith, Hope, and Love” campaign concludes in late 2018, Ritter noted. The MACS office is recommending that the feasibility study get underway in the fall of 2017.
Charlotte Catholic Principal Kurt Telford, a committee member, said he looks forward to the eventual realization of a MACS Fine Arts Center on his campus.
“I am excited that the Charlotte area parishes, MACS schools, Charlotte Catholic and the broader community will have a premier auditorium for plays and performances,” Telford said. “Charlotte Catholic will also benefit with a top flight music and art instructional facility. In addition, our existing arts and music classrooms will be re-purposed to be used for other academic and athletic needs.”
Telford and the committee members will also work to coordinate and communicate with members of the MACS community over the next school year.
“This process is similar to what has been done with other large building projects throughout the diocese and has proven to be most successful. Following this process will allow us to make prudent and thoughtful decisions,” Ritter said.
MACS parent Tish Macuga is on the advisory committee. Macuga and her husband Brian have five children in Catholic schools and have been a part of the MACS community for the past 13 years. She volunteers her time at all of her children’s schools and has served as PTO president at St. Gabriel School. In addition, she volunteers with the Holy Trinity Middle School Athletic Association, gives school tours there and also volunteers with the athletic association at Charlotte Catholic.
Macuga cares deeply about the arts.
“I feel like we’re blessed at Charlotte Catholic to have so many opportunities for students to be involved, to show their God-given talents and strengths,” she said. “I feel like right now a student who participates in the arts is squeezed into a space that is designed for other events. For these students, their God-given talents should be developed just like the athletes.”
She is also excited that the new Fine Arts Center is designed as a shared space for the whole MACS community.
“There are so many events that take place at our different schools that can benefit from this space. From talent shows, to band concerts and choral concerts. This shared space where people can schedule and be able to use the facility, with a parking deck to accommodate guests, it’s a great plan,” Macuga said.
Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development, is staffing the committee along with Sally McArdle, director of advancement at Charlotte Catholic. Once the feasibility study is completed in 2017 or 2018, Kelley and McArdle will work with the committee on specific steps as determined by the results of the study.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter