by Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
On Sunday, October 2, from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., the Past Pupils’ Association of Holy Faith Convent, Couva (HFC), will hold a reunion at the school to mark the 60th Anniversary of HFC, my alma mater. The theme of the reunion is Shine On. The programme for the day includes: breakfast, followed by an inter-faith service and a concert by current students of HFC. Lunch will provide an opportunity for participants to mingle and meet old and new friends.
The afternoon’s entertainment includes top performers such as Patrice Roberts, Rikki Jai and a Parang band. For tickets, which cost $250.00, ring Pamela Punch (687-5514) or email hfcpastpupils@gmail.com. HFC past students and teachers will be coming to the reunion from all over the world. I urge all past students and teachers of HFC to join us on this momentous occasion. See you there!
This will be an opportunity to honour the memory of past and current Holy Faith Sisters and teachers whose commitment and dedication to their vocation helped to form us to become what we already are – God’s faithful children. As we celebrate, let us also remember that it was at the invitation of the then Archbishop, Count Finbar Ryan, that HFC Foundress, Margaret Aylward sent eight HF Sisters from Ireland to Trinidad in 1947 to help with the education work in the Archdiocese.
When HFC was established in 1951 it was the first secondary school in the Central rural area. On January 12, at the launch of this year of celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary, Angela Iloo, Principal of HFC, rightly referred to the school as the “diamond on the Caroni plain”.
We past students can be proud of our alma mater which, today, continues to place God at the centre of its education ministry and to make a significant contribution to the development of T&T. HFC’s vision for the 21st century embraces Pope Benedict XVI’s concept of “integral human development.”
In many ways, the quality of teaching and learning at HFC reflect Malcolm Baldrige’s “Characteristics of High Performing Schools”: Clear and shared focus/shared vision; High Standards and Expectations; Effective School Leadership; High Levels of Collaboration and Communication; Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Aligned with Standards, Frequent Monitoring of Teaching and Learning; Focused Professional development; Supportive Learning Environment; and High Levels of Community and Parent involvement.
Congrats, CREDI graduates
Members of CCSJ take this opportunity to congratulate Rhonda Joy Earle, Andrea Joseph-Hutchinson, Sean Julien, Anne Marie Richardson, Cheridan Zachary Woodruffe, Renessa Kuanyin Tang Pack and Joan Harrison who graduated from the 2010 Social Justice online Certificate course with the University of Dayton (UD) – in partnership with CREDI and CCSJ. You can access on CCSJ’s website, information about the graduation ceremony that took place at St Finbar’s Auditorium on Friday, Sept 9. Many Catholics are still unaware of the social teachings of our Church. It is critical that the faithful access appropriate, well-planned training such as the social justice online course at UD if they are to use the SEE-JUDGE-ACT methodology effectively. This course gives Catholics the tools they need to be true witnesses to their faith.
As Anne Marie Richardson said: “We were scripturally challenged with the knowledge that social justice has been an issue from time immemorial and through the ages it has constantly been addressed by our Church through the many encyclicals and other writings of our leaders. I now ask myself, how I am going to put all this new information to use in my church and in my parish. The answers are coming slowly but surely; I just have to be open to them.”
Sr Angela Ann Zukowski, Director, Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF), UD, said she has no doubt that the graduates “will be animating gospel social justice transformation within their parishes and country.”
CCSJ will be advertising for the 2012 cohort of students soon. Please think about signing up for the course so that you can help build our Church and our nation. See: vlc.udayton.edu. for information about the course.
Warmest congratulations also to the 14 graduates of the Masters Degree in Educational Leadership. I know that you will use your expertise to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in our Catholic schools. Catholics are about “excellence”, not “mediocrity” or “failure”. Therefore, I call on all teachers to live up to their vocation; to their sacred responsibility to form the nation’s children.
