Vocation with Love

Pope Francis once wrote, "There is a kind of beauty, one that is unrelated to appearances or fashion, in men and women who pursue their personal vocation with love, who act selflessly for their community, for their nation, who work hard at building a happy family, who advance social harmony with selfless and unrecognized efforts."

When I read this, I thought of the educators I work with every day. St. Ann is fortunate to have many outstanding educators who give their heart and soul to educate our youth. They live out their vocation with love daily.

My favorite responsibility as principal is to perform classroom observations because I get to see the educators and learners in action. This is probably the least favorite part of my teachers' day. It is a contrast of opposites.

Not sure who I'm amazed by more, the educators or the learners. They all do incredible work, both appear to live their vocation. They also take pride in doing great work; outcome is important to both groups. Doing well is an expectation.

Here is a quick review of the great classroom activities I witnessed this past week while performing classroom observation.

Ms. Seller's PK3 class, the students were learning how to write the letter Q.

Ms. Farm's PK4 class, the students were learning about insects using the Scholastic Big World magazine.

Coach Angotti's PE class, the PK3 students were doing yoga.

Mrs. Morgan's PK4 class, the students were working on shapes and sorting using coins, legos, Play-doh, blocks, drawings, and IXL.

Ms. Green's art class, the PK4 students were working on shamrock pictures getting ready for St. Patrick's Day.

Mrs. Jolly's kindergarten class, the students were writing a story on what they can do on a rainy day. Kindergarten students writing a story is pretty awesome.

Ms. Scarlett's art class, the 2nd graders were working on creating water color paintings about Spring time.

Mrs. Thomas' LIFE class, the 3rd graders were working on math, adding 3 double-digit numbers from word problems.

Mrs. Miller's 4th grade class, the students were working on book reports, Amira, IXL, writing, and math problems all at the same time with all students super-focused and getting the job done!

Mrs. Wendenon's SPARKS class, the 4th graders were working with robots.

Mrs. Langford's 6th grade math class, the students were working on converting fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions.

Ms. Caesar's 7th grade social studies class, the students were learning about U.S. geography and competing on naming the states.

There is no substitute for our vocation with love, which includes hard work, passion, dedication, and faith. That's what all these teachers have in common. What a great common denominator to have in those who are helping to shape the future.

I began with a Pope Francis quote, so I'll end with a Pope Francis quote. "Nothing exists by chance. Our relationship with God is what makes us great, it is our enthronement. By nature, we are practically nothing, by vocation, by calling, we are the children of the great King!"

God bless you and love to all,

Didier Aur

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