Florida Catholic | Catholic Educators Schooled At Workshop

Catholic educators schooled at workshop

Bishop: The goal is to help students grow spiritually, physically and intellectually.

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 03.28.08

SARASOTA | Teachers are a very important aspect of the Catholic faith, so on March 17 they had an opportunity to participate in a daylong workshop aimed at providing them each with an opportunity for professional growth.

More than 375 teachers, administrators and Catholic education instructors from the 15 Catholic schools and various parishes were able to participate in the interactive session. There are more than 5,000 students attending Catholic schools in the Diocese of Venice.

The group was separated by subject matter; for example, science teachers from a variety of schools were put at tables together.

Sister Roberta Schmidt, Congregation of St. Joseph of Carondolet, director of the Diocese of Venice Education Department, said she wanted the workshop to engage the teachers so that they would adapt the lessons they learned to the classroom.

Keynote speaker Brother Robert Bimonte, Lasallian Christian Brothers, guided the educators through a new way to look at teaching based on new research into how the brain works. Brother Bimonte is the executive director of the National Catholic Educational Association, and his talk was titled “Building a Better Brain: Creating the Classroom of the 21st Century.”

“Hopefully everyone will get something they can take away from this, because we are learning more and more how people learn,” he said.

As researchers learn more and more about the human brain, there are important implications for the way schools are run and classrooms are structured.

Brother Bimonte used the example of Bible stories and fairy tales to show that by learning together and with the help of others, everyone will be able to achieve his or her goals and dreams, which is at the heart of what education is.

The educators were periodically asked to participate in activities and share their ideas with others at their tables.

Sister Schmidt said many of the teachers commented that they liked being able to interact with people from different schools.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane noted that as the point of first contact with the next generation of young Catholics, educators are key in helping to form students’ development as Catholics with a value-centered education. The goal is to help the student to grow spiritually, physically and intellectually.

“Your talent is the expertise in love. It makes the miracle of the Catholic faith grow,” Bishop Dewane said. “I see the personal concern, love and dedication found in this room. Yours is the greatest contribution. It is to the life of the diocese.”

He added that there are challenges to Catholic education and the Catholic Education Management Council is putting together a strategic plan to improve retention and enrollment at schools in the Diocese of Venice.

The other challenges include keeping up of facilities, updating curriculum to include the latest technology and addressing personnel issues. He is looking to mechanisms to overcome those challenges.

Bishop Dewane said he also wants people to realize that everyone in the diocese needs to be part of Catholic education.

“It is not just the parishes that have a school or even that are feeder parishes. Everyone has a responsibility,” he said.

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Catholic educators schooled at workshop

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