Volume 6, Issue 7
October 29, 2007

Feast of St. Narcissus
St. Narcissus was the Bishop of Jerusalem who lived in the first century AD, and was among the bishops of Palestine who met in Council at Caesarea and decided that Easter would always be celebrated on Sunday rather than with the Jewish Passover. He was known for miracles and much revered by those in his diocese. Three persons who envied him brought false charges against him, from which he was later vindicated and each of the accusers suffered a terrible fate that was prophesied about them. He was a priest among priests who drew deep respect for the Church leadership from the faithful. How fitting that in this week when we honor our priests beginning with Priesthood Sunday yesterday that we would celebrate one who was a model of pastoral goodness.

Let us together celebrate our Saints on All Saints Day and remember in prayer on All Souls Day all those deceased in our families, friends, and colleagues, especially Jim Flynn, Principal of St. Charles School. 

Happy and Safe Halloween!

Message from the Secretary for Education/Superintendent
Archbishop Pilarczyk, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, has named Carolyn Jurkowitz to the position of executive director of the CCO, effective December 1, 2007. She will take the place of Tim Luckhaupt whose superb leadership has guided us through these past 20 years. Carolyn has served the Conference with Tim during that time working with the Superintendents of the six Catholic dioceses of Ohio. She has served us well, responding to our questions, representing our schools at the statehouse, and keeping on top of the legislation affecting schools. We are grateful for her assistance through some trying times and look forward to her new and broader role of leadership.

During the next weeks, Tim and Carolyn will study the responsibilities of the Conference including the Catholic schools, and how best to continue the services that all aspects of the Catholic Church of Ohio need.  They will assess staff needs as well.

Congratulations to Michelle Nowakowski and the staff of St. Michael School, Independence for being named our most recent Blue Ribbon School of Excellence! We all know how much work goes into the preparation of the application and for the visit of the evaluators. In this day and age of seemingly endless added responsibilities in our schools, this is indeed a monumental achievement. We are proud of you!

Coping with Violence in our Schools
In light of the recent violence at SuccessTech Academy in downtown Cleveland and the almost daily reports we receive from the media about school violence, we want to remind you of the excellent resources you can access online to review your school safety plans and to be proactive in learning the signs that are often ignored but always revealed in interviews with those closest to the violent experience. Please refer to the OCE website, www.oce-ocs.org/oce/administrators/emergency_planning.

Here are a few reminders from Susan Zelman, Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Ohio:

  • Please remind your staff about your school’s emergency response plan…where to find it and how to follow it.
  • Ask local law enforcement and firefighter personnel to review your emergency response plan, communicate it with staff and families, and practice the plan.
  • Encourage staff to increase strategies that foster “human connection” such as information sharing, support networks, peer relationship building, counseling, and parental involvement.
  • Reassure students and parents that schools are safe places if they express concern.
  • Take any threat seriously. Notify resource officers and /or local authorities immediately.
  • Review your school’s suspension and expulsion policies and procedures, and be sure to include measures to provide a student receiving disciplinary actions with support services.
  • Take measures to control access to each learning environment.
  • Ensure that your staff is immediately aware of students who have been suspended or expelled and the date they are expected to return.

Superintendent Zelman also offers the Ohio Safe School Center as a resource. If you need assistance in finalizing your school’s emergency response plan, training, consultation or technical assistance related to school climate and safety, feel free to call the Ohio Safe School Center at 1.800.788.7254, option 2, or go to the web site: http://www.ebasedprevention.org. The Safe School Center is funded by The Ohio Department of Education and services are free to all Ohio schools.

One program that seems to be effective in targeting and changing student behaviors is a software program called Ripple Effects. This program can be used during in-school suspensions or as otherwise needed. There is also a Ripple Effects private, software-based training for teachers in managing diverse learners, showing care, and communicating respect to all students.

In most cases, aggression at school is linked to problems in another domain: peers, family, community, or deep psyche. Ripple Effects software offers student training in a set of strategies that have been proven effective in reducing anti-social behavior. Equally important, it enables them to address underlying reasons for problems in a safe, private environment, where shame in not part of the equation. They can look up topics like child abuse, bullying, being left out, parents’ addiction and teacher conflict, and get peer narrated help in how to deal with those issues, including how to use community resources.

For more information you may call 1.888.259.6618 or go to the web site, www.rippleeffects.com. Ripple Effects offers a free, research-based school safety assessment for students and adults. It is called the School Safety Profiler, and it is at www.rippleeffects.com/needs.

Additional web sites for addressing the causes of violence and warning signs in students as well as tweaking your school safety plan can be found at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/cp/documents/crisisrespbox.pdf
The above is a Crisis Response Box: A Guide to Help Every School Assemble the Tools and Resources Needed for a Critical Incident Response.

http://cecp.air.org/guide/guide.pdf
Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools – This resource was designed to help schools identify and respond to early warning signs of violence, obtain help for troubled children, create a crisis prevention and response plan, and respond to crises effectively.

http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/crisis/crisis.pdf
Responding to a Crisis at School Resource Aid Packet – This packet from the UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools contains resources for crisis planning, training staff, school-based crisis teams, including handouts for staff, students, and parents.

These are just a few of the resources you may access by going to the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention web site: http://www.promoteprevent.org/Resources/briefs/prepare-respond%20crises%20in%20school.html. 

The National Association of School Psychologists website is also helpful: http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/talkingviolence.pdf  

Principals’ Leadership Conference – November 6-8, 2007
The agenda for the upcoming Principal Leadership Conference being held on November 6-8, 2007 at The Lodge at Sawmill Creek is now available online. Elementary Principals can find it at: http://www.oce-ocs.org/oce/administrators/principal_meetings.shtml; High School Principals at
http://www.oce-ocs.org/oce/administrators/hs_principal_meetings.shtml.
We look forward to seeing you there in Eight Days!

Attention Entry Year Teachers and Mentors
The Entry Year Teacher/Mentor meeting scheduled for November 14th at Notre Dame has been moved to Regina High School from 4-6 pm.

Attention Teachers with Permanent and Non-tax Certificates
Teachers holding a permanent teaching certificate or non-tax certificate need to have a BCI (fingerprint) electronically submitted to the Ohio Department of Education no later than 12/31/07. ODE will not accept paper copies.  Go to http://www.ag.state.oh.us/business/fingerprint/data/index.asp to search for a web check site available in your area. This BCI requirement does not include those individuals who hold a 5-year renewable license along with a permanent or non-tax certificate.

Rotary World Peace Scholarship
This scholarship founded in 2001 offers 60 individuals committed to peace and conflict resolution the opportunity to earn a two-year master’s level degree in international studies, peace studies and conflict resolution at one of the Rotary Center’s University partners: Japan, Argentina, England, and Australia as well as North Carolina and California. This scholarship is worth up to $50,000.

Eligibility requirements include:

  • Academic background, training, and work experience required for a master’s level program at the university selected for study
  • Proficiency in more than one language
  • Excellent leadership skills
  • Demonstrated commitment to peace and international understanding through personal and community service activities and/or academic and professional achievements
  • Live or work in the local Rotary district you are applying through

For applications and further information contact: www.rotary.org and click on Students and Youth.

Faith and Values Appeal for Catholic Education
Letters will be mailed to donors with previous giving history for the Faith & Values Appeal for Catholic Education. Funds raised will be used for tuition assistance for qualifying families in the eight counties of our diocese. If you don't receive a letter but would like to contribute or send copies to parishioners, please call Karen Joyce at 800-869-6525, ext 1910.

The 2008 in-pew appeal for the Faith & Values Campaign for Catholic Education will be held the weekend of 19-20 January in all parishes. School and parish communities will receive flyers in December to post in the school or church for January. A link will be placed on the OCE web site for interested donors to access the Faith and Values newsletter or to make a donation to this tuition assistance collection.

Diocesan-Wide Holy Hour, Every First Thursday of the Month
Join the Cleveland Catholic Forum for adoration, rosary and praise every first Thursday of each month at Conversion of Saint Paul Shrine, 4120 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44103. The Holy Hour begins at 6:45 pm and is followed by refreshments at 7:45 pm. Please note that the November 1st Holy Hour will be an All Saints Mass due to the Holy Day. Visit www.clevelandcatholicforum.com for more details.

January Thaw
The tenth annual “January Thaw:  Fire Up” Conference is scheduled for Saturday, January 19, 2008, at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron.  This catechetical conference is sponsored by the Southern Area Catechetical Leaders of the Diocese of Cleveland in association with the Diocesan Office of Catechetical Services. The conference offers 30 sessions for Parish and School Catechetical Leaders, Youth Ministers, Catechists, Teachers and RCIA Candidates and Catechumens, plus a 3-session retreat option.

A brochure with registration information will be included in the December Memorandum or online in November at www.oce-ocs.org/ocs. Please note that registration is limited and will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. 

For additional information, call the Southern Area Office of Catechetical Services at 800-869-6525 X 1029 or contact pflaherty@dioceseofcleveland.org.

Digital Video in the Classroom
With generous funding from the Bruening Foundation, and in collaboration with WVIZ, the Office of Catholic Education presents a free workshop, Digital Video in the Classroom, Friday, January 25, 2008 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at Corporate College East, Warrensville Heights. A full breakfast will be served between 8:00 and 9:00 am.

Presenters include Eric Siler, WVIZ’s Workshop Coordinator, and David Hall, Technology Coordinator and Computer Teacher at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Cuyahoga Falls.

Participants are asked to bring, if possible, a laptop with video editing software, digital camcorder, and accompanying cables.

This hands-on session will explore the interactivity and motivational aspects of integrating video into the classroom. Teachers will be operating a digital camcorder, capturing images, and editing them. We will share ideas for how to effectively use digital video in the classroom. Both iMovie™ (for Macs) and Movie Maker™ (for Windows) will be presented.

To register online go to www.oce-ocs.org/oce/teachers/edtech.  Please register by Friday, January 11, 2008. One lucky participant who registers by the deadline will win a brand new camcorder!

CHINALINK©
This program prepares students to live in our global world by exploring China’s language, history, philosophy, economics and politics. Connecting to China brings limitless opportunities for learning and career development. We congratulate PSI for making this program possible and the schools who agreed to pilot the program:
Cleveland Central Catholic High
Notre Dame Cathedral Latin High
Gesu
Incarnate Word
St. Brendan
St. Columbkille
St. Joan of Arc
St. Mary/Berea
St. Paschal Baylon

 

 

 
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