Samantha Gast, a kindergartner at Sacred Heart School in Ottawa, seems a little apprehensive about approaching Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann. Kindergarten teacher Lisa McSwain tries to encourage Gast.
CEF board members hit the road in order to see schools in action
by Jessica Langdon
jessica@theleaven.org
The Catholic Education Foundation works hard to make sure its board meetings don’t turn into bored meetings.
But this year, organizers raised the bar.
Early the morning of Sept. 22, the CEF board of directors climbed aboard a bus for an unprecedented field trip.
“We’ve never been to the four schools in the Southern Region,” said CEF development director Patty Morrisey. “So we packed up the board and took them on a bus trip and had our board meeting on the bus.”
First stop: Sacred Heart School in Ottawa.
“We do our best to get our board members closer to the mission,” said Michael Morrisey, CEF executive director, so meetings always include a visit to one of the schools that CEF aids.
This meeting was no different.
“They were able to see the schools, talk to the kids, talk to the teachers, talk to the principals, talk to the pastors,” he said.
Basically, they saw a day in the life.
At St. Rose Philippine Duchesne School in Garnett, board members were paired with a “lunch buddy,” who showed them how lunchtime works.
St. Joseph School in Olpe was the next stop, and, last but not least, was Sacred Heart School in Emporia.
The group — including Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann — also visited the “hoop farm,” a covered area where students raise vegetables and then consume the fruits of their labors.
The board members concluded their meeting on the drive home, winding up the 10-hour trip at 5:30 p.m.
“It was just wonderful that these board members took a whole day off work to spend with us and go to these schools,” said Patty Morrisey.
