U.S. Department of Education representative praises archdiocese’s Blue Ribbon schools
By Brandon A. Evans
Kristine Cohn, U.S. Department of Education regional representative, visited some of the archdiocese’s five 2005 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence this week to congratulate the teachers and students on their commitment to learning.
The Blue Ribbon schools are
Holy Family School in New Albany, St. Michael School in Greenfield, and Immaculate Heart of Mary School, St. Simon the Apostle School and St. Thomas Aquinas School, all in Indianapolis.
Cohn is visiting some of the public and private schools in her region—which is made up of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota—that received the national award. The schools were officially notified in late September that they had been named Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence.
She visited the Indianapolis-area Catholic schools on Nov. 28, and was accompanied by Annette “Mickey” Lentz, executive director of Catholic education and faith formation for the archdiocese.
The schools held assemblies, offered prayers, played music and accepted an official recognition plaque from Cohn.
The high-energy events are a highlight of the year for Lentz.
Whenever there are challenges for those who work in education administration, she said, the best thing they can do is spend a little bit of time at a school assembly.
“Then you realize what you do and why you do it,” Lentz said.
The special events also let the students celebrate their school’s achievement.
Lentz said that even the young children who don’t understand what a Blue Ribbon award is know that an assembly with music and special guests isn’t organized for just any reason.
“[The students] see themselves as part of a larger picture, a larger community,” Lentz said. (Story continues below)
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She told the students gathered at St. Michael School in Greenfield “how proud we are of you.”
Cohn spoke to the students about the importance of an education—citing Benjamin Franklin to tell them that whatever a person learns is their treasure to keep forever; a good education is something that can never be taken away once received.
“An investment in knowledge always pays off,” Cohn said. “Here at St. Michael School, you have invested well.
“You are one of only 11 schools in the state” to be honored as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, she said, which means that all those involved with the school have “taken a leadership role to do what is right.”
Cohn said there are four things that make up a good school: a committed community, excellent teachers, involved parents and great students.
St. Michael School, she said, just like the other Blue Ribbon schools, is now a role model—and other schools will be looking “to see what you did,” she said.
Nov. 7 was designated “St. Thomas Aquinas School Day” in Indianapolis by Mayor Bart Peterson, who joined the students, faculty, parents, archdiocesan Catholic education representatives, state legislators and other special guests for an outdoor pep rally a few days before Bonnie Stevens, the principal, and other staff members traveled to Washington to accept the Blue Ribbon award.
“This is a big, big deal,” Mayor Peterson said. “Very few schools in the entire country get chosen to be a Blue Ribbon school. This means you’re the best of the best, … you have great teachers, … great, involved parents, … the school is well-run [and] … each and every one of you students works really hard every single day to do your best. That’s all anybody can ever ask of you, and I want to say thank you to all of you. … You’ve done a great job. Keep up the good work.”
Offering his congratulations, the mayor said St. Thomas Aquinas School exemplifies the best of the city’s Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood because it has a long tradition of racial and economic diversity and has provided quality education since its founding by the archdiocese in 1941.
St. Thomas Aquinas fourth-grade student Zoë Ellars of Indianapolis said she is very proud of the school, the students’ high ISTEP state achievement test scores and the teachers.
“Going to a Blue Ribbon school means that I am receiving one of the best educations possible,” Zoë said during the school assembly. “… The Blue Ribbon award inspires me to do the best that I can in school. I am grateful to our teachers for making our school shine.”
Seventh-grade student Bianca Chavis of Indianapolis said she was excited that her school is one of only 11 schools in the state to be honored and among the top 10 percent of the schools in the nation.
“A wonderful school has a variety of great things,” Bianca said. “Every student … is smart in a different way.”
Across the nation, 245 public schools and 50 private schools were honored this year. With 11 schools honored in Indiana, the archdiocese operates nearly half of the Blue Ribbon schools recognized in the state in 2005.
The recent honors also bring the total number of Catholic schools in the archdiocese honored by the U.S. Department of Education to 20 since 1982. Last year, the archdiocese had six Blue Ribbon schools, and four schools the year before that.
To date, no other diocese in the United States has had as many Blue Ribbon schools as the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
(Mary Ann Wyand contributed to this story.) †
