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Feature News | Monday, August 20, 2018

Ready for anything

In wake of Stoneman Douglas shooting, archdiocesan schools take extra measures

Three teachers from St. Mark School, Southwest Ranches, pose during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators. From left are Ryan Hinsz, Elena Toyos and Kelly Musselman.

Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC

Three teachers from St. Mark School, Southwest Ranches, pose during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators. From left are Ryan Hinsz, Elena Toyos and Kelly Musselman.

FORT LAUDERDALE | In many ways, the annual pre-school gathering of archdiocesan educators followed familiar tracks: training, devotions, information, inspiration. But for the first time, the event also dealt with the possibility of someone opening fire in a school.

The reason, of course, was the incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, in which 17 students and staff died — a tragedy that happened on Feb. 14, only six months ago. Although the archdiocese’s 60 schools have long had safety protocols in place, the leaders wanted to make sure everyone was ready for anything.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preaches under a painting of the Assumption of Mary during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preaches under a painting of the Assumption of Mary during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Jennifer Hubbard, whose daughter died during the 2012 school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, speaks during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC

Jennifer Hubbard, whose daughter died during the 2012 school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, speaks during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Asher Harirchi, a theology teacher at Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, said the FBI's seminar during the archdiocesan back-to-school conference reminded him to stay alert for dangerous situations.

Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC

Asher Harirchi, a theology teacher at Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, said the FBI's seminar during the archdiocesan back-to-school conference reminded him to stay alert for dangerous situations.

Lana Gonzalez, a religion teacher at Immaculata-LaSalle School in Miami, pauses during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC

Lana Gonzalez, a religion teacher at Immaculata-LaSalle School in Miami, pauses during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Accordingly, the conference on Aug. 15 featured sessions by FBI agents on how to watch for danger, and how to handle an “active shooter” situation. And the keynote speaker was a woman who lost her daughter in the 2012 shooting tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.

“We’re trying to be as proactive as we can,” said Kim Pryzbylski, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, during the gathering at the Broward Convention Center. She said the archdiocese’s schools have held safety drills for at least eight years, and some invite local police to review their protocols.  

Much of the day was a typical back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators. Before Hubbard’s talk, the day began with a Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Thomas Wenski, with music by the choir of Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

In a corridor, various educational firms spread tables with books and other materials. And three sets of breakout sessions offered updates on familiar topics like accreditation, classroom management, bullying prevention, the STEAM interdisciplinary method, and teaching special-needs students.

But the breakouts included a new topic: the seminars by FBI agents, who also passed out booklets on how to prevent violent extremism in schools, as well as “Quick Reference Guides” on warning signs.

Giving the keynote was Jennifer Hubbard, whose daughter, Catherine, was among the 26 people — including 20 first-graders — killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Hubbard told how she gradually drifted from her Irish Catholic upbringing. How her faith was tested with the news of her 6-year-old daughter’s death. And how three messages brought her back.

Those messages, as she shared them with the educators, were: “God will protect you and your students; God will provide a way for you; and God will heal whatever pain is breaking your heart and your students’ hearts.

“If we can teach our children that God will protect — despite what their minds tell them — then we have done well,” she said. “In a Catholic school, it is not taboo to talk about God’s love and protection. I pray that you’ll know that God is not asleep, and that Jesus will protect you until he calms the waters.”

Hubbard’s talk overlapped one that she gave the previous day at Mary Help of Christians Church in Parkland, less than a mile and a half from Stoneman Douglas School. She said it was “intimidating” to address those 70 listeners, some of whom had lost friends and classmates in the Feb. 14 shooting.

 

‘MY HEART BREAKS WITH YOU’

“I will never understand the pain your community went through,” said Hubbard, who is also a monthly contributor to the magazine Magnificat. “I know that my heart breaks with you. Nobody’s grief is greater than anyone else’s.”

But for herself, she said she found that prayer, Bible reading and keeping a personal journal helped her to hear God’s voice.

“I don’t like that children have to go to school scared,” she said. “But I know that God wants our good, not our demise. His ways are greater than our ways. He sees our tears and broken hearts. And he sees the greater picture.”

Ryan Hinsz, a science teacher at St. Mark School in Southwest Ranches, said his focus was on the sessions about the STEAM educational approach, which integrates science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.

What of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas? “I’m not concerned,” Hinsz said. “That’s part of the joy of a Catholic school. As the speaker (Hubbard) said, God is protecting us. We’re not impervious to it, but we’re on top of it.”

To which Asher Harirchi, a theology teacher at nearby Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School, replied: “It may not have crossed their minds, but you can bet it’s on the minds of their administrators.”

He was right: The previous week, school administrators huddled to discuss practices in all phases of an emergency — before, during and after — as well as how to anticipate several types, according to Donald Edwards, associate superintendent of schools.

Harirchi himself applauded the addition of the FBI seminars and Hubbard’s talk.  “It makes me more aware,” he said. “It tells me to stop, get my eyes off my cellphone and look around. I need to be more educated on the warning signs.”

He agreed also with Hubbard’s counsel to rely on prayer and faith. “I think we’re not doing a good enough job of explaining Catholicism. We talk a lot about rules and structures, and not enough on the most basic level: a relationship with God.”


THE WAY OF THE WORD

Pryzbylski said Hubbard was brought in to bring a “different perspective” to the issue of preventing and confronting school violence. She said that the students are in different emotional phases, with some having lost friends in the February calamity.

Brian Gibbons confirmed that students at St. Thomas Aquinas, where he coaches lacrosse, were affected by the Stoneman Douglas tragedy. “Many of them are from Parkland, and they lost friends [in the incident],” he said.

Like others at the back-to-school conference, Gibbons said it helps to teach in a Catholic school. He said he prays and reads the Bible with them. “I also tell them to fall back on faith, rather than drugs or alcohol.

“I tell them, ‘Don’t live by the ways of the world; live by the way of the Word,” Gibbons said.

Teachers, too, were in various emotional phases, judging by their reactions to Hubbard’s talk.

“It helped me appreciate more what I do,” said Lazaro Suarez, who teaches math at St. Hugh School in Coconut Grove. “Sometimes we think we’re invulnerable, and something like that is never going to happen to us. But she reminded us that we need to rely on something more than ourselves.”

Lana González, a religion teacher at Immaculata-LaSalle High School in Miami, confessed that the Stoneman Douglas incident had been preying on her mind. But Hubbard’s talk reassured her to trust in God, she said.

“We heard how the Lord won’t let us down, that there is always something greater in him, even in a tragedy,” González said. “A lot easier said than done, I’m sure.”

St. Thomas Aquinas High School choir sings during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.

Photographer: JIM DAVIS | FC

St. Thomas Aquinas High School choir sings during the back-to-school conference for archdiocesan educators.


Comments from readers

Sister Lidia Valli - 08/23/2018 10:31 AM
I am grateful for the possibility to meet with all the archdiocesan educators for " training, devotions, information, inspiration." May our Lord bless each one involved in providing education, guide, and witness to our faith.

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