Within the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, I have engaged in setting directions by working with staff at St. Matthew School in faith formation. In the 2017–2018 school year, I was given the opportunity to lead my colleagues in growing in our understanding of our role as educators rooted in Christ’s message as part of our board-provided professional development day devoted to faith formation. We began the day by sharing a meal together and then worked in small groups to engage in activities that helped us understand how we can bring our faith into every aspect of our role.
During this school year I was also given the opportunity to take the lead on running our Faith in Action Cross Pilgrimage activities. I worked with the principal, our school’s chaplain, and a fellow teacher to learn about the goals of the pilgrimage and then helped plan activities to engage students and staff across the whole school. I also captured faith in action and created a video to share at our culminating liturgy. The week that we received the cross was incredibly inspiring and I felt a strong sense of purpose in leading in a Catholic education system.
Additionally, I was given the opportunity to provide professional development about connecting our Catholic faith with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I spoke at our school’s first staff meeting and shared information and scripture about the TRC. We discussed how to navigate equitable practice in an institution that has a history of harm towards Indigenous people in Canada. This conversation was ongoing in our school and I took my experience beyond the school to my professional learning group in my Principal Qualification Program class.
CourtneyAnnePhD 