Teachers urged to stress wonder, respect for life

"It's all about wonder, awe and respect," Brother Robert Bimonte, FSC, told hundreds of teachers from Catholic schools in the Albany Diocese at their annual convention last week in Albany.

Brother Bimonte is executive director of the elementary department of the National Catholic Educational Association.

After his talk, the teachers attended workshops on such topics as adolescent gambling and how to improve student learning.

Questions to ponder

The title of the conference, "Wonder is the Desire for Knowledge," gave Brother Bimonte the opportunity to ask a series of questions: "What are you seeking? What are you thinking about as you go your way in teaching? What do you want to do with your ministry?"

The first and most important thing a teacher can do, he said, is to teach students how to use their natural gifts of fascination about the mysteries of life. He urged them to help children develop this sense of imagination along with their faith.

"The sacredness of life is all around us," he noted. "It is our task to teach children about the sacredness; but, first, you, as teachers, must spend time in prayer and concentration so that you can see the sacredness."

Respecting life

The second step Brother Bimonte discussed was teaching respect for life.

"Disrespect for others may be something as simple as stereotyping, belittling someone or pinning a label on someone who is different," he explained. "Only those rooted in awe and wonder can learn how to respect all of God's creation."

He also emphasized that it is of vital importance to teach students how to care about themselves and others, including the poor, homeless, hungry, those with AIDS and those living on the fringes of society.

Gospel truth

The speaker cited some contradictory phrases from Scripture -- "Lose your life and find eternal life," "the last shall be first," "do good to those that hate you" and "love your enemies" -- and said, "We must be a people of contradiction if we believe the words that Jesus taught us.

"We are called by God to emulate these words. As Catholic school teachers, we stand for the reign of God, which is now. It is here that we must care for the poor and powerless.

"This is not the way of our world, but we must prepare our children to work for a better world where every single life is considered precious, where every person has a chance to succeed."

Reactions

Teachers shared their reactions to the keynote address:

* Maryann Neimeyer, first-grade teacher, Blessed Sacrament School, Albany: "I teach respect by reinforcing the two great commandments -- love God and love each other, treat others as you want to be treated. I think the keynote talk reinforced this. He spoke of compassion, love and respect for self and others. This is exactly what Jesus called us to do."

* Sister Mary Ellen Owens, RSM, principal of Holy Cross School, Albany: "The words 'awe', 'respect' and 'caring' really define our mission as Catholic educators. Teaching our children to care for all of God's creation is primary. We are working in a counter-cultural situation in our schools today. As educators, we must be aware of this fact and see it as an everyday challenge in our classrooms."

* Jeremy Whipple, physical education teacher/athletic director at Holy Spirit School, East Greenbush: "I like what he said about respect. It's my job to get our students to actively work together. There has to be some innate respect within the group. We teach the kids not to make fun of others' abilities, not to put each other down. This is already a big part of our program; we teach them to put forth an effort for success, hopefully their very best effort."

* Joan Colangione, middle school teacher and former physical education teacher at Holy Spirit School, East Greenbush: "Having co-ed physical education classes at our school provides a great opportunity to reinforce respect for each person. Respect for self and others gives the student a chance for self-evaluation, to discover what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to continually improve on past performances."

(Sister Jane Herb, IHM, superintendent of schools for the Albany Diocese told the teachers: "I hope that we can go back to our schools nourished and sustained by the gift of one another with an attitude of wonder and a search for knowledge.")

(10/26/06)