As we honor our seniors, we look to the future
Dear Cardinal Mooney Family:
Last night my wife and I were welcomed to our neighborhood by several Mooney students. That simple and kind gesture speaks volumes about the students I will serve.
Class of 2020, once again, let me offer my congratulations upon achieving your high school diplomas. It has been my experience that every second-grade teacher can define the collective class personality. It is also true that challenging times influence who and what we become. While you did not ask to have your lives interrupted by COVID, you have adapted. Adaptation is an important characteristic of not only individuals but civilizations.
Perseverance is another important characteristic. As you have demonstrated, and will continue to demonstrate, no chains can shackle the human spirit — and when you stand for something bigger than yourself, dreams will come true. You are entering a world in which you will have a direct impact on how we as a nation and people will adapt. You may be involved in research that leads to a cure; or in service to your country; or become entrepreneurs helping the economy recover. Each of you will have a role to play in what the future looks like. Your Mooney education has prepared you to find a way or make the way forward. You are entering a world unknown, yet exciting with challenges and with opportunities. I want to thank the parents of our graduates for your understanding and the sacrifice of forgoing a traditional graduation. I hope you realize that it will be from your sons and daughters that future classes will learn of the sacrifices made, and how those will inspire them to adapt and persevere. Thank you for sharing the Class of 2020 with us.
Many are wondering what is in store for next fall. As Governor DeWine reopens Ohio, his actions are telling me that we should move toward an in-person opening of Cardinal Mooney for next school year while taking appropriate safety and health precautions.
We all want to get back to normal yet also recognize that this crisis will culminate in a new normal. The real question for me and the administration is this: What should Cardinal Mooney look like as we face this new world?
Moving forward means gleaning what we have learned up to this moment, and applying that knowledge immediately to our educational enterprise. For one example, Mooney faculty and staff have been using Zoom, Google Docs, and other connective devices, and discovering that we can be quite effective and engaged from home. Nevertheless, a Catholic school prides itself and distinguishes its educative character in teaching face-to-face.
The Mooney I know, with its characteristic grit and determination, must scale the steeper but more rewarding path toward swift change. And we can. If anyone had told us months ago that we could move to a totally online institution within weeks, I would have bet against that. Yet that is precisely what the Mooney faculty and staff and its students did. Most of the transition happened without guideposts or blueprints, thus we have begun investing in more training for faculty to ensure quality education no matter how it’s delivered.
This attitude will also propel us into our new normal and fuel our inquiry on every issue: Where are our strengths and how do we enhance them? How do we attract new students and ensure that our retention and graduation rates increase? Has (limited) staffing slowed our progress? What should we be teaching and what should our students be learning to be competitive now and into the future? How do we enhance and accelerate our Catholic mission? We must ask ourselves these and many more questions.
Nothing is sacred except our integrity. Nothing is more important than generating good will through communication and transparency. And nothing is more important than Cardinal Mooney leading the charge for change. With your help, we will become the architects of our future.
As I, Dr. Beiting, and the Board of Directors work our way through the many questions and issues needed to be addressed in order to reopen school we will keep you apprised of our progress. Again, let me say that my plan is to welcome our students back to campus next school year.
Sincerely,
Thomas Maj
President
Click here to download our full May 24th, 2020 bulletin (PDF Format)