Over 500 Educators at CSJ Schools’ Convocation

Faculties, staffs, administrations and representatives of the eight high schools sponsored and conducted by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, in the dioceses of Brooklyn, Rockville Centre and Ponce, Puerto Rico, recently came together at The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, for the 2008 CSJ Convocation of Schools.

This daylong experience was designed to strengthen the Josephite charism of all-inclusive love, unity and reconciliation among all the sponsored school communities. Sister Jean Amore, president of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and Sister Helen Kearney, a councilor for the community and coordinator for all congregational schools, hosted the group of more than 500 educators, male and female, lay and religious.

Sister Carol Zinn S.S.J.

Long a teaching presence in the dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, is today the only congregation of women religious in the United States to sponsor and conduct eight secondary schools for girls. Seven schools — St. Joseph H.S., Downtown Brooklyn; Academy of St. Joseph, Brentwood; Stella Maris H.S., Rockaway Park; Fontbonne Hall Academy, Bay Ridge; Bishop Kearney H.S., Bensonhurst; and The Mary Louis Academy — are located in Brooklyn, Queens and Suffolk counties. Academia Maria Reina is located in the Diocese of Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Sister Carol Zinn, S.S.J., from Chestnut Hill, Penn., a member of the Philadelphia province of the Sisters of St. Joseph, was the featured speaker at the gathering. The Brentwood Congregation was born of the Philadelphia province in 1856.

In her opening talk, Sister Carol emphasized to those in attendance, all educators in Catholic schools, “we have a ministry, not a job. ... We must ask ourselves at the end of the day, ‘Does our life match our words? Does our life match the words of Jesus in the Gospels? Does our life match the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph?’”
In her main presentation focusing on the day’s theme, “Feeding the Hungers of Our World,” Sister Carol highlighted the four characteristics of a culture as set forth by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization:

• The way a group learns and teaches.

• The way a group communicates.

• How a group organizes itself.

• What a group thinks its meaning and purpose are.

Sister Carol spoke of unity, wholeness, interdependence, reverence, justice, a sense of the sacred and wisdom as world hungers. She called for the group to seek “oneness with God” through love without distinction and through reconciliation, the act of bringing back together what has been broken. She cited arrogance, materialism, division, autonomy, brokenness, oppression and ignorance as the main obstacles to reconciliation among God’s people.

In closing, Sister Carol prevailed upon the teachers, staffs and administrators of the Josephite schools to find God in their ministry every day.

“You must be that same presence that is the Eucharist. Everything we see, everything we look at is the body of Christ,” she exhorted, “and we must spend our life breaking ourselves open to feed everyone.”

Brewster Place Author Visits Park Slope School

Gloria Naylor, author of the best-selling novel, The Women of Brewster Place, recently visited students at St. Francis Xavier School, Park Slope. Children warmly received Naylor, who encouraged boys and girls to dream big and work hard to achieve their goals. As a sign of her commitment to help make their dreams a reality, Naylor donated scholarship funds for the graduating class and gave a generous gift to the school, according to Principal Sister Kathleen T. Sullivan, C.S.J., who is most grateful.

Youth Views

Who most influences your life? Explain.

Kaitlin Durney Bishop Kearney H.S. Sophomore My two older sisters influence my life the most. I look up to everything they do and secretly want to be just like them. I value their opinion on everything: school, clothes, boys and life in general.	Rosemary Burti Bishop Kearney H.S. Freshman My mom influences me most in life. She is a very caring and loving person. She helps me whenever I need her.

Domenic Varuzza Holy Cross H.S. Senior The person who most influences my life is my grandfather. I’ve seen where he came from and the struggles he’s had in life. He has lived his life completely for his family — that’s a true role model.	Deirdre Hynes Bishop Kearney H.S. Freshman My mom most influences my life. She’s one of my role models and I learn a lot from her and her actions. She’s a great person and I hope to be like her when I get older.

Sergey Poposyan Holy Cross H.S. Freshman My father most influences my life because he tells me what’s right and what’s wrong.	Megan Morano Stella Maris H.S. Sophomore My father is the person who influences me the most. He is a good parent and works very hard. He does everything possible to give my family what we need and want.

Jennifer Vasquez Stella Maris H.S. Junior My mother influences my life the most. I have learned so much from her strong values and motivation to always do her best.	Denisse Ovalle Stella Maris H.S. Freshman The actions I choose are influenced by God and the spirituality He’s blessed me with.

Rita Regan Stella Maris H.S. Senior Mrs. (Jean) Mauro, one of my teachers, influences me. Rather than just teach students, she gets to know them and forms a connection with them. She deserves to be recognized for her hard work and dedication.

 

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