Catholic schools continue to diversify
By Renee Webb, Globe diocesan news editor
Posted January 24, 2002

Student populations at many schools in the United States continue to diversify and a few Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sioux City are no exception to that trend.

"The challenge for us is to find ways to assist various ethnic groups who have moved here such as Hispanics and Vietnamese," said Sister Joan Stoffel, superintendent of diocesan Catholic schools. "That will be the new venture in this century just as it was in the past. When the Diocese of Sioux City was founded 100 years ago, they had people of different languages. Today, we are trying to meet the needs of a diverse population."

Of all the Catholic schools in the diocese, Holy Family School in Sioux City has the greatest diversity. According to Beth Calhoun, principal, the ethnicity of the school consists of European Americans - 43 percent, Hispanic Americans 16 percent, Asian Americans - 10 percent, African Americans - 1 percent, Native American - 3 percent and multiracial - 8 percent.

"We try to bring the diverse ethnicity of our students into our weekly school Masses," she explained. On a regular basis, they try to incorporate Spanish and Vietnamese music and at special liturgies during the year such as Catholic Schools Week they make it a trilingual celebration by using Spanish and Vietnamese at petitions and so forth.

Each center of the school - St. Joseph, St. Boniface and Epiphany - has its own English as a Second Language teacher. Those who can speak English spend about one-half hour a day with the ESL teacher. For some students who are fairly new to the country and have limited English-speaking skills, they receive extra help.

Communicating with parents was sometimes a challenge for the school until they decided to provide a newsletter in three languages - English, Spanish and Vietnamese. To see the information in the three languages can also be intriguing for all of the students.

In September, Holy Family received the Educational Equity Recognition Award presented by the Iowa Board of Education. The award recognized exemplary efforts of the school in meeting the educational needs and enhancing the success of a diverse community and school population. They were honored for the trilingual newsletter, a special summer ESL program and their preschool/latchkey program.

And while St. Rose of Lima School in Denison does not have large numbers, Sister Joan said the school has encouraged Catholic school attendance and has great potential to increase numbers.

With about six Hispanic students Principal Robert Meyer pointed out that they do not have an ESL program. Rather, the teachers have studied Spanish so to assist students as much as they can. These students have been in the community for a while and can speak English fairly well. They attend class in the regular classroom and work one-on-one with an aide in a tutorial capacity for English.

"We started a preschool and we are inviting our Hispanic population to take part in that," he said. One of the school's board members is Hispanic and has helped to spread the word about the availability of the Catholic school. Another couple who are active in Spanish religious education classes have also been promoting the school as an option to Hispanic families.

The school attempts to incorporate Hispanic traditions into school activities so the English-speaking students could learn about another culture. They took part in the Christmastime celebration of Las Posadas.

"It appears our parish is going to be a bi-cultural parish and both cultures are going to have to understand each other," said Meyer. "We are trying to implement some of the Hispanic customs into school."

Striving to meet the needs of the Hispanic community can be a challenge, but the Denison principal is certain in time it will get better, as the young children are rapidly learning the English language.

Sister Joan pointed out that at regional education meetings with diocesan educators from the Midwest, one of the major issues they have been trying to address is how to meet the needs of Hispanics.

"This is a challenge to us, but if we are to be promoters of mission of Catholic education, that is part of our mission - spreading the Gospel message even when it may not be easy," she said.

Sister Maria Ybarra, the new Hispanic pastoral minister for the diocese, said she sincerely believes the Catholic schools in this country have been instrumental in educating the young minds of the fast growing Hispanic community in the United States.

"These young Hispanic people, educated by our Catholic institutions, will no doubt, in the not too distant future, leave their foot prints in the 'sand of time' with their leadership contribution they will make to the various institutions and social systems of the social process of this country," she said. While Sister Maria mainly works with Hispanics in parish programs, she is aware that Catholic schools, which cultivate the Catholic Christian morals and values, help shape the minds of young Hispanics in this society who are potential leaders.

Sister Maria is a product of a Catholic school education, and thanks to the sacrifices of her parents, all her siblings attended Catholic schools. All of her brothers and sisters serve the church and state as Christian leaders in one way or another.

Sister Joan pointed out that many of the diocesan elementary schools are offering Spanish classes.

St. Rose of Lima and Holy Family are two of them. The principals and diocesan superintendent agreed that the Spanish classes have twofold value. First, Anglo students realize how hard it is to learn a new language and second, they believe it is a wise academic offering to prepare them for the future.

At Denison, parents of the Hispanic students help with the classes. Holy Family offers Spanish to sixth through eighth graders.

One of Bishop Heelan High School's student organization, AWARE (All Worthwhile Actions Require Everyone), was formed to promote diversity found in the community and the world. Students started this group in 1994 with the mission to learn about other cultures and lifestyles and to offer service to the community while acting as an example of tolerance and respect for others.

"Our students are working to promote our belief that we are all equal in God's eyes," said Mary Walsh, Aware moderator. "Whether our differences are ethnic, religious or socio-economic, all people are worthy of our respect."

Diversity, noted Calhoun, is the real world. Students at Holy Family, learn the real world at an early age, when they come in as preschoolers or kindergartners.

"Everyone is living as one family and we are very proud," she said. "There are challenges, but it enriches everyone - the faculty, staff, the parents, the students. To go to one of our Masses and see our students holding hands as they sing 'We Are One Family - Holy Family.' It means we are a school, but it is also the nation and the world - God's people."