Coach Leon Hite, head football coach at Trinity Catholic High School and Director of Security for Jennings School District spoke to a group of parents, teachers, principals and pastors from the schools and parishes of the Northeast Deanery Federation on Tuesday, October 7^th at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Catholic Church.   The purpose of the meeting was to provide a new perspective on the events and issues that have emerged over the past two months in Ferguson.

Coach Hite encouraged attendees to not let FEAR (“False Evidence Appearing Real”) take over their thoughts and actions, but instead to focus on “WWW” –

• “Who” are we concerned about as teachers and parents? Our student and children 
• “When” – right now in the midst of stress and unrest in our community 
• “Why” – because we love our kids and they are our future leaders

Hite explained that the current events and their portrayal in the media can cause fear, but by focusing on the who, when and why we have the opportunity to affirm the valuable strengths of our schools and communities and build relationships to address areas where improvement is needed.

Attendees broke into small groups for discussion and sharing about the main strengths they see in the Catholic schools and parishes of North County, along with identifying some areas where they see improvement is needed.  The groups shared their thoughts, which included strengths such as the safe and welcoming environments at each school and education rooted in Christian values, along with areas for improvement including more training for parents and teachers, continuing to share the good news about Catholic schools, and working on building relationships in the neighborhoods and communities that the schools serve.  The full list of strengths and opportunities to improve will be shared and discussed by the pastors and principals at their November meeting.

Father Tom Wyrsch, pastor at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, summarized Coach Hite’s presentation by saying, “We have to connect with the ‘why’ that we are here – in our parishes and in particular our schools and not let fear drive us off from what we believe and why we are here.  Our Catholic schools are a real prize, and we have to stay committed to that.”