A SECOND CHANCE IN

Photos by Emma Cassani

A Second Chance in Price Hill Resurrection School Becomes Romero Academy at Resurrection

BY PATRICIA MCGEEVER

This school year is anything but normal for students across the archdiocese. Masks are part of the new uniform and kids are forced to keep their distance from each other. For the students who attend one parish school in Price Hill, the changes are even greater. Their school has a new look, new teachers, new curriculum and a new name: Romero Academy at Resurrection.

“My favorite part of our opening week was talking to the students who had previously been at Resurrection and asking them how they liked the changes,” said Principal Tom Loughead.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The school at Resurrection parish had been losing money for years, enrollment was down and it was at risk of closing. Then, something happened to save it.

“Seton Education Partners appeared,” said Mabe Rodriguez, executive director of Cincinnati Inner-City Schools Education (CISE). CISE provides funding to Catholic schools in economically challenged areas of the archdiocese. “Seton said, ‘We want to partner with you, with the school.’ To me, this was divine intervention. This was the Holy Spirit.”

Seton Education Partners already had its blended learning model in four schools in the archdiocese. The plan for Resurrection was a bit different. A team of eight people traveled to New York City to see how a similar model worked in schools there. It took more than a year to work out the details. In the end, Romero Academy was created as an independent nonprofit that manages the school on behalf of the parish.

“I gathered the data, and I found out that there are 4,700 kids who we call ‘voucher-eligible,’ meaning living in poverty, in Price Hill,” said Rodriguez. “I thought to myself, we can’t close this school. It’s the last place we should close a school. We need to give these kids a chance.”

that CISE and Seton Partners were able to come together to give new life to Resurrection School,” he said. “Also, the dedication and commitment of Father Robert Keller, the pastor of Resurrection Parish, must be recognized. When he learned that the Academy needed not only the school, but also the rectory, he was prepared to make the move. Repeatedly he stated, ‘Whatever it takes to help the children,’” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic created additional challenges. The maximum number of children the school could enroll and follow CDC guidelines was 109. It added a Pre-K program but had to temporarily cut back on the number of grades offered.

“In order to both renovate the school and get started with the Pre-K program, we had to move the school down to Pre-K through fifth grade for this year,” said Jeff Kerscher, general partner at Seton Education Partners. “It’s easier to turn around a building when there are fewer grades to manage.”

The school plans to add a grade each year over the next three years until it’s Pre-K through eighth and able to serve up to 290 children.

Seton Education Partners invested $1.1 million in the update. Every child has a Chromebook. They repaired the building and roof and remodeled. There’s fresh paint, new desks and new technology, all blessed by Archbishop Schnurr early in the school year.

“The blessing of the school was a joyful occasion for students, teachers, staff, CISE and Seton Partners,” he said. “It was an honor for me to give the blessing, and then visit with some students and their teachers.”

For many reasons, parents are glad their children are back in school. It offers them stability, consistency and a quality education.

“What we’re doing signals to the children and to families that they’re cared for, that we want them to be successful, they’re worthy of investment in a lot different ways,” said Principal Loughead.

• Personalized and exceptional service for post-mastectomy care.

• Custom breast forms, breast prostheses, bras, camisoles, postmastectomy swimwear and postsurgical garments.

www.personalsymmetrics.com Call Tammy for an appointment (513) 221-7200

Explore all that our senior living community has to offer from the comfort of your own home! Participate in an online virtual tour today to see our dining room, courtyard, suites, and everything in between.

T AK E Y OU R T OU R T O D A Y B Y VI S ITIN G OU R WEBSIT E

A T WW W . T R IPLEC R EEK R ETI R EMEN T. C O M ! |

A SS IST E D LI V IN G | IN DE P E N DE N T LI V IN G

MORGAN STANLEY

Catholic Values Investing • College Saving Plans • Professional Portfolio Management

JAMES E. GHORY, JR

Associate Vice President | Financial Advisor 4380 Buckeye Lane, Ste 200 Beavercreek, OH 45440

937-431-7890

james.ghory.jr@morganstanley.com morganstanleyfa.com/james.ghory.jr NMLS #1657687

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen liked to say that there are two ways to start the day: One is to say, “Good morning, God.” The other is to say, “Good God, morning!” To some, every day is a gift. To others, it is a rude awakening.

In his book Life Is Worth Living, Sheen says that the anxiety and listlessness that makes life a drudgery is often rooted in an ignorance – and sometimes even an avoidance – of the purpose and meaning of life.

THE ULTIMATE QUESTION Many people don’t have meaning, and they don’t want meaning, because they’re afraid to face a fundamental question: “Why is life worth living?” They’re afraid there is no answer.

Why do you think life is worth living? Before you continue reading, spend a few minutes in prayer coming up with an answer. Every Christian needs an answer. What’s yours?

Recently, I shared this question on Facebook. I received a wide variety of responses. Some posted photos of their friends and family – loved ones make life worth living. Others suggested the potential to grow or the promise of change – hope of a better life makes life worth living. Some, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, shared the things they enjoy. Hockey, pizza, cats, coffee, tacos – the pleasures of the world make life worth living. One friend said that participation in family, culture and society makes life worth living.

THE ULTIMATE ANSWER In a sense, all of these reasons are true. They certainly bring excitement and happiness to life. Some reasons, such as family and friends, help us focus on “the other,” which frees us from the never-ending desire to please ourselves. There is a liberation there that brings new purpose to life.

But, what if we took all of that away? What if we took away friends, family and grandkids? What if we took away sports, food and cute little kittens? Would life be worth living then? The loss of everything actually happens to people. It happens to drug addicts strung out and living on the street; to migrant children separated from their parents; to innocent people languishing on death row. It happened to Job. Some people are almost entirely deprived of beautiful things, loving people and endless possibility. That is why, in the final analysis, the reasons I’ve listed so far are good, but not good enough. We must have a better reason for why life is worth living – and I think that reason is Heaven.

THE ULTIMATE ENDING Heaven is the reason for life and the reason for your existence – it is the reason for everything! God loves you and desperately desires a perfect relationship with you. That’s what Heaven is.

Of course, the only way to get there is to go through life first. And that’s not always easy. Life is hard and filled with injustice, pain, sickness and sadness. Sometimes life doesn’t seem worth it at all. But, what if we looked at life a little differently? What if we looked at life from God’s perspective?

The thing about pain is that it can deceive us into thinking that pain is all there is. But God sees the entire trajectory of life and the afterlife. From His perspective, this life and all its pain is a blink, a fraction of a moment, compared to the eternal joy and love that awaits us.

St. Paul lived life from God’s perspective, and his words are a great consolation: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom 8:18). “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:17).

Eternal glory beyond all comparison! That’s reason enough for a million mornings.

NICHOLAS HARDESTY is the Associate Director of Adult Evangelization and RCIA for the Center for the New Evangelization, an archdiocesan initiative that empowers parishes and schools to equip the laity for missionary discipleship. nhardesty@catholicaoc.org.

A&Q WITH SEAN ATER ON THE CENTER FOR THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

WHAT IS THE CENTER FOR THE NEW EVANGELIZATION? The Center for the New Evangelization (CNE) is the combination of each office in the archdiocesan pastoral center charged with the mission of evangelization. These offices include: Evangelization and Discipleship, Youth Evangelization, College Campus Ministry, Young Adult Evangelization and Marriage & Family Evangelization.

WHAT MINISTRIES DOES IT INCLUDE? The CNE provides evangelization programming for some of the most important stages in people’s lives. For young people, the CNE hosts retreats and prayer experiences such as Encounter, youth and family Masses in partnership with NET Ministries, and retreats in partnership with the Catholic Youth Summer Camp. Our College and Campus Ministries provide evangelization and community for students attending our colleges and universities and work in partnership with apostolates. Our Young Adult Evangelization includes community building, small groups, human formation and prayer experiences. For couples preparing for marriage, we offer Genesis retreats and help parishes implement the “Witness to Love” marriage prep program.

Much of our ministry is in supporting, mentoring and equipping parish leaders for evangelization. This includes formation and training.

WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT ITS FORMATION? The CNE is the culmination of a renewed emphasis on evangelization by Archbishop Schnurr. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI called for an extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization building upon the hopes of his predecessor, St. Pope John Paull II. In the wake of the Synod, Archbishop Schnurr established the Office for the New Evangelization in 2013. Now, seven years later, the Center for the New Evangelization brings together every office in the archdiocese directly tasked with evangelization in order to serve people and parishes in more fruitful ways. We’re doing this by combining talents and resources and operating under one mission, vision and approach.

HOW WILL THE CNE ASSIST PARISHES? Our mission with parishes is “communion for mission.” This means we work with parishes for renewal, particularly the renewal of parish leadership. The spiritual communion of the pastor and his parish leaders is essential for the renewal of parish structures. In addition to parish renewal efforts, we provide planning and training for mission. We do this primarily through workshops and training on particular areas of evangelization. For us the parish is “ground zero” for all evangelization efforts.

HOW WILL THE CNE HELP INDIVIDUAL CATHOLICS? Our mission with individual Catholics is “mission for communion.” We want to reach everyone with the Gospel and encourage each person on their journey toward missionary discipleship. Our efforts are directed to reach people where they are and bring them into deeper communion with Christ and the Church. We are focusing our evangelization efforts on young adults. We believe that the young adult years are critical – from leaving their parents’ home, to attending college, to the discernment years of single young adulthood, to preparing for marriage, to the first years of marriage and parenting. When young people have a deep relationship with Christ and the Church, they will build families that nurture and pass on the faith to their children.