There is a huge black hole in the Internet where Catholic school teachers should be. Where are the Catholic school bloggers, podcasters, Facebook fans and Twitterers? If you’re out there, we need to connect and make our online presence stronger. If you’re not there yet, let’s get busy and create a community to share resources, ideas and stories. There are terrific educational blogs out there like Beyond School and The Cool Cat Teacher, and Catholic homeschoolers have got great sites like the Love2Learn blog and Maureen Wittman’s blog, but where are the Catholic school teachers?
Right here.
If you’re a Catholic school teacher or administrator then I hope Catholic School Chronicles can serve as an energizing rallying point for your vocation, and a source of news and materials you can use each day. But mostly I hope that it inspires you create your own blog and join the conversation. It’s not too late to join the online revolution. The Catholic Church needs your voice to ring out over the rooftops of the world with the sound of Good News.
Though this endeavor begins as the school year is winding down, we have a lot in store for the coming months: podcasts, professional development ideas, web resources, all from a Catholic educator’s perspective. From catechesis to computers, from prayer to podcasts, Catholic School Chronicles deals with the latest issues and ideas for today’s Catholic schools.
By way of introduction, my name is Nick Senger and I’ve been teaching in Catholic schools for almost 18 years, and my entire education, from first grade to graduate school, has been in Catholic institutions.
I graduated from St. Pius X Catholic School, from Billings Central Catholic High School, and from Gonzaga University (twice). I’ve taught at Sacred Heart Catholic School and Gonzaga University, and I’m currently in my seventeenth year at All Saints Catholic School, where I’m a vice principal and eighth grade teacher. My wife teaches at Gonzaga University and three of our four children attend Catholic schools (our fourth will enter as soon as she’s old enough). Catholic education has been a part of my life since I was five years old, and it continues to be one of the foundational elements that shapes who I am.
My online endeavors includes blogs like Literary Compass and Teen Literacy Tips and podcasts like One Catholic Life. I also edit the homily podcast for St. Peter Parish and I coordinate technology at All Saints. All Saints recently received a generous donation from an anonymous benefactor that enabled us to give every teacher a Macbook laptop and to furnish every classroom with projectors and document cameras. In addition, we replaced all of our outdated Windows-based student computers with brand new 20-inch iMacs and added a wireless laptop lab with 20 Macbooks. We are tremendously excited to use this new technology to form students in ways that will spread the good news of the Kingdom of God in innovative ways.
Though I love technology and gadgets, my passion has always been for the Catholic faith and for teaching, and I can’t wait to grow Catholic School Chronicles into “something beautiful for God.” You will see the site develop and change over the next few months until it finally settles into something that I hope becomes a regular part of your online experience.
I would greatly appreciate your feedback and suggestions, and I look forward to getting to know you. Use the subscribe link at the top of the page to get the most current articles, and leave comments whenever you get the itch. Tell all your Catholic school colleagues about Catholic School Chronicles, and most of all please pray that this website will be an inspiration and resource that furthers the mission of Catholic education.
In Christ,
Nick Senger