The Individual Value of All Our Families

I respect and admire when parents challenge my decisions in a thoughtful way. Often times, they can raise philosophical questions that I may have already struggled with and, having reached my conclusions, it is easy to respond. Other times, they may raise concerns I have not considered, and it can cause me sleepless nights as I mull over their thoughts.

One such situation occurred recently with a parent who views our recent decision to post donations to Angels Among Us at different levels as a subliminal message that the more you give, the more you are valued. Her thoughts mirror discussions we had in our Development Committee meetings when we first started to discuss the establishment of giving levels.

I think everyone is aware of the progress we are making on renovating and improving the school. To accomplish any of this, we need to fund raise and develop. This is difficult, from a Principal's perspective, because education, not fundraising, is my "area of expertise". However, it seems more and more that financial matters are often the issues that take up a majority of my time.

As we continue in our development efforts, we need to be very clear as to what our goal is. We are not raising money to bloat our egos or increase salaries, or to elevate the status of those who are able to give at a higher level. We are raising funds to improve the school environment, and this is a goal that benefits every single child that attends the school. If we begin to treat individuals differently because of their donations, then we are failing in our efforts.

We have all heard the gospel story regarding the old woman who's small donation is a much greater sacrifice to her lifestyle than the wealthy man who gives more. We all understand the message implied in this parable, and by no means is breaking our donations into level meant to imply that one family is sacrificing more than another. I know that every family sacrifices just to send their child to our school, and anything above and beyond what is required is equally appreciated. But I have also come to the understanding that the individuals who are in a situation to give at a higher level are doing so for the betterment of the school for every child. We should also be able to teach our children gratitude. A larger donation does not make an individual a better person, but it does enable us to better the school.

We are all in different situations in our lives. Some days I have a dollar in my pocket and am able to pass it along when someone needs help. Other days I don't, and I feel guilty, but it is my reality. I am not a better person on the days I can give, I have a different reality on those days.

Every dollar we receive for AAU is valued and appreciated. However, we also understand that some families are in a position where they are more able to offer the gift of presence, while still others may be able to offer a service or skill. We understand this and value it all. Financial is just one means of support we receive at Holy Angels. As we move forward our goal will not change, our perceptions of our parents will not change, and our students will ultimately be the beneficiaries of all that we accomplish.

President Obama's Education Address

A parent that I greatly admire and respect called me recently to ask what we intended to do about President Obama's address to the nation's school children next Tuesday. Upon receiving my answer, she stated that she wanted her child to opt out of watching the address, based primarily upon the fact that she and her husband dislike Mr. Obama.

I find this rationale curious. So often, our elected officials use education as one of their primary agenda items to get elected. However, once the election is over, few, if any, continue to see the value in education, despite everyone agreeing it is important. Here is our country's leader wanting to actually address students about education and many want to politicize the act and prevent their children from listening to what he has to say. I don't believe that President Obama is planning on turning this into a subliminal message about health care reform, but I do know that a ten minute address from the president will never supersede the philosophies a parent teaches their child at home. That being said, I believe it is still a parent's right to make decisions about this for his or her child.

Concurrently, I also believe that no matter what an individuals personal opinion about President Obama may or may not be, he is our President and I think he deserves all the respect that goes along with the office. It can easily translate to questioning the values we teach children today. We often hear criticism about "kid's today", but we always seem to forget that we are the ones raising these kids with the values we are complaining about. Respect is a quality that needs to be taught, and it does not work if it is taught "selectively". Teaching children that you should respect this person but not that person, based upon a fairly subjective list of criteria, just does not work. Try responding to that thought process when your child is disrespectful to someone you think they should respect. In that case, simply disliking the school principal would be an adequate rationale for being disrespectful. (and how could that be right!!???)

As I stated, I do not believe President Obama is going to use this forum to push his political agenda, (the text will be published this Monday) but if he says something a parent disagrees with, shouldn't that be an opportunity to dialogue with your child about that issue? In many instances, I think it would give parents an opportunity to further solidify their philosophies within their child, rather than "indoctrinate" their child with liberal rhetoric!

The most influential political leader in the world talking about the value of education seems, to me, to place a high value on education. Removing a child from this scenario seems to have other implications. We all seem to agree education is important, but God forbid our children begin to think that way by hearing a message from our President!