I have a passion for teaching our Catholic faith. In many of our homes and in some families, that isn’t always a priority. So I appreciate it when I get to spend time with the school children in class and they get excited about something that we are doing. Whether it be going through a PowerPoint presentation on the saints, or a skit that they are presenting to the rest of the class, there are many creative ways the students are engaged in to learn about and share the faith.
At one time, there used to be about a dozen Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet teaching at St. Anthony School in Kailua. Little by little, like in most communities today, the numbers began to diminish. Some religious went back to the Mainland to their home provinces, others retired. I am now the only sister of the Hawaii vice-province left at the school. As a middle school educator, I teach religion throughout the entire middle school. This includes the planning for all the Masses K-8 and special occasion prayer services.
One other aspect of our educational system that is really important is the requirement for students to perform service hours. It is really important that the kids learn to share their gifts and talents without expecting anything in return, any repayment or a fee. They get excited as they are given the opportunity to choose whatever service project they want to be involved in. They have to do something for the school and the community and large. This includes having them think of creation, the needy, the poor and their families as well. They learn that everyone has different gifts and talents. And to be willing to share them is important.
Some of the students have chosen to go to Shriner’s Hospital to visit with the children receiving treatment there. Others are involved in programs in which they accompany those with physical challenges such as Down syndrome. In the area of doing something for creation, the environment, there are those who regularly help with cleaning Kawainui Marsh. We have those who love to sing. So under Kepa Stern, our talented musician’s encouragement, those who love to sing have become a choir that voluntarily sings at church on the weekends. A children’s choir is something that we didn’t have before.
There is life here at this school, and that keeps my spirit going. I find it interesting to watch that life grow. For example, because I attend Mass before school begins, I get to school really early. I like to observe how one-by-one parents drop off their kids in those wee hours sometimes before dawn. Gradually as the number of little ones waiting in the office multiplies, the sleepy silence is broken as the volume of their voices increases and the whole campus comes to life. They are happy to be here, to learn and to play. The kids feel they are a part of this small in number, but great in heart, community.
Sister Rosemarie Montoya is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet who has been professed 33 years. She resides at St. Joseph by-the-Sea Community in Kailua.
