CREATING AND SUSTAINING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

A twenty-five-year veteran of Catholic education, Patricia McGann will discuss the increasing demands placed on Catholic school administrators and teachers, and share lessons learned as a Catholic school leader.  

Catholic schools must be prepared to meet the social and emotional learning needs of their students - students who present with a diversity of learning needs, students who come from family and larger cultures that vary widely, and students who experience significant mental and physical health challenges.  These same students come to us seeking a Catholic education that provides them with a faith foundation, and a social and educational experience that will allow them to become responsible, contributing citizens of an ever-changing world. 

When Catholic school leaders have an unbending commitment to combining the tenets of our Catholic faith and Catholic Principals of Social Justice with the principles of SEL our schools will then support and inform students as they learn to respect themselves and others, to manage their own emotions, to achieve their goals, and to make responsible decisions. 

Our Catholic schools can once again serve as beacons of hope in a world where hope has become a lost commodity, and models of character development in a world that desperately needs young people of values and integrity.