Published January 21, 2007

Teacher: Poem Highlights Best in            Catholic Education 

GUTHRIE — Julie Hagen, third-grade teacher at Saint Mary’s Catholic School, said she was touched by this poem written by her student, Elaina Noll.

“This poem reminds me that Catholic Education forms the total   person,” she said. “Not only are Catholic schools renowned for their academic excellence, but they also form the moral and spiritual side of students.”

The poem was written during free-writing time when students write whatever they want in their journals.

“Elaina chose to write about the universal and unconditional love of God, which touched me deeply because it typified for me what Catholic Education is really all about,” she said. “Catholicism is truly a religion without social and economic barriers. It reflects how God sees us all, in that he loves us dearly no matter our ethnicity or our humanistic limitations.

“Our educational system reflects this in that we stress the universal love of Christ, even throughout every subject. For example, if we are teaching about plant and animal life in science, we bring out that God is the author and creator of all life, and that we are made to know, love and serve God. If we are learning about how humans can change animal habitats during our social studies class, then we bring out how God wants us to protect and conserve our environment as we initiate a service project in which we collect aluminum pull-tops to donate to Ronald-McDonald House.

“While secular education focuses on the academic side of our nature. Catholic Education addresses our deepest need which ensures our greatest happiness — the call to serve others as Christ loves us. The poem written by Elaina brought tears to my eyes as I read it because it was written out of a character formed by these values.”