Kindness

The Health Office, where our faithful and intrepid Nurse resides during the school day, is right next to my office. So, there often is a procession of students making their way past my door to hers - where band-aids are available, ice packs are many, and general solace is in big supply. Trekking from halls away to health care central, these are brave little ones. Very recently I overheard a first grader say to her friend, whom she had kindly accompanied on the journey from their classroom. Don’t worry. I’ll wait until you’re fixed. So sweet.

A Plan with Legs

The 2007-created Strategic Plan, Celebrating our Legacy, Securing Our Future, remains in front of us as a living guide. A strategic plan should be an ongoing strategic think, after all.

This year, as goal #1 of the Third Year Action Plan, we are collectively working very hard to promote and celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Visitation Order. This is a celebration of the Visitation legacy – our Catholic identity and Salesian Spirituality. And we are seeking every opportunity to weave this special celebratory thread throughout our school year.

This year’s second goal for the Catholic Identity/Salesian Spirituality portion of the Strategic Plan is to integrate Salesian leadership more intentionally throughout the whole school environment. All school divisions have embraced this goal, resulting in more opportunities across and between the grades for conversation and leadership development. Even our youngest students are getting in the act, so to speak.

The Administrative Council is spearheading many an initiative to move our Strategic Plan forward – to continue to give it legs.

Health and Well-being

The number of Visitation students falling ill these days is growing. And we realize that this situation places stress on students and families alike. I would like to offer some reassurance as well as ask for your help.

Our faculty is committed to the holistic health of each one of our students, and they each stand ready to support students who need to be home recovering from whatever illness befalls them. In addition to the general empathy that our faculty and staff demonstrate in trying times, they also, very practically, have at the ready both class assignments and other instructional hints. Please check individual teacher webpages or email the teachers to ask for assignments or assistance. However, most importantly, our Visitation team wishes to mitigate the angst that our typically very conscientious students experience when they are away from school. We are proponents of rest and recovery before assignments are tackled. Recovering from some of these illnesses requires a great deal of rest. We want this rest to occur and will assist students upon their return to school regarding catching up on essential educational pieces. Please be reassured in this regard.

As for the help that we need, we now must require that students (K-12) are fever and symptom-free for a full 48 hours before returning to school. In order not to infect others or prompt a relapse with the student in question, we must abide by this directive, as encouraged by the Board of Health. Given that many of our students are suffering recurring illness in very short order, we feel that this 48 hour period at home after the fever and symptoms abate is essential. As previously communicated to the parents of the youngest among us, the Child Care and Montessori students must stay home for a minimum of seven days from the onset of symptoms, as per the Board of Health. We realize the various strains that this can place on households, but we must maintain our position on this in order to promote the health and well-being of the whole school. Of particular note at Visitation are the two groups who are especially vulnerable – the wee ones in our Child Care and Montessori programs, and the elderly Sisters in the Monastery.

We wish all of our students smooth sailing through the month of October. But this will only occur if we all do our part. Please remember that we stand ready as a professional team to support our families during these times so beset by illness.

A Special Year

Each new school year offers us new ways to “live Jesus,” the motto and mission of our dear Sisters. This year we celebrate an awe-inspiring milestone: the 400th anniversary of the Visitation Order. Rather than hosting one super event, we are infusing an anniversary spirit into every special event held during the 2009-2010 school year. We’ll recognize it at our Sept. 25 opening Mass and Flag Raising. Alumnae will toast to it that evening during a cocktail reception at the James J. Hill house. Our benefactors will celebrate it at their Sed Vitae Dinner in October. And our senior class will graduate on June 6, 2010 – 400 years to the day that Saint Jane de Chantal and two other women opened the first Visitation Monastery in Annecy, France.

The work we do here in Mendota Heights is part of something much bigger, a community that stretches across the globe and spans the centuries. I encourage you to get involved in this special celebration and share the joy and graces of the year. Please join us at one of our anniversary events that will be promoted throughout the year. We also encourage you to purchase and read one of the many books that have been recently published as part of our commemorative Salesian literature:

1.) The Visitation: A monastic way of life in the Church – This colorful coffee table book lays out the backbone of the Visitation Order and its beloved Salesian Spirituality, highlighting the 12 monasteries in the U.S. It features some great snapshots of our Sisters, including Sr. Marie Therese on the organ and Sr. Katherine Mullin smiling with a young North Minneapolis resident and so on. The $20 book can be purchased at the Portress or ordered for an additional $4 of shipping and handling. Just email visitationbooks@yahoo.com or call 703-451-7786. Learn more at www.thevisitationorder.blogspot.com.

2.) Gentle Fidelity – Sr. Peronne Marie’s book reflects the wisdom and poetry of Salesian Spirituality. Every time I read it, Sister Peronne’s insights feel delicate and fresh. To order your limited edition copy of these poems for $15, swing by the Portress, call the Development Office at 651-683-1704 or email Gina Carlson at gcarlson@vischool.org

3.) Extraordinary Ordinary Lives – Retired administrator and Vis alumna Elsa Thompson Hofmeister ’56 chronicles the vocational call of 14 women who responded “yes” to God’s invitation and joined our Visitation Monastery. She describes their joys and fears, trials and triumphs with detail, clarity and respect. The stories are fascinating! They renewed my appreciation for these women who quietly, joyfully “live Jesus.” The $20 book is available at the Portress or online at www.visbooks.org. Learn more at http://visnuns.blogspot.com/.

Ready to Go

Soon the bustle will return. A new cycle of school life awaits. This is an exciting time, filled with all of the positive anticipation that a new school year evokes. Fresh slates. New beginnings. Reconnections. Welcoming the new. A few short weeks. I can’t wait.

Summer Diligence

The work proceeds carefully. Floor scrubbing and waxing. Carpet shampooing. Desk sanitizing. Touch-ups here. Touch-ups there. Readying the building for the next school year’s cycle.

With quiet efficiency the work proceeds – coordinating efforts with the many activities that happen at Visitation during the summer. Summer School. Summer Camp. Year-round Child Care. The refurbishing efforts continue.

Then in late August the new school year will begin within the gleam of this work.

We are so grateful for the care and concern – the love, really – that our maintenance team demonstrates toward our school

Extraordinary Ordinary Lives

Working at Convent of the Visitation School moves one along the continuum of having a job, to embracing a career, to finding a vocation. And this transformation is in no small part due to the influence of the Sisters of the Visitation, whose life’s work and life blood have fueled this school since 1873. These women are remarkable.

A beautiful view into the calling to religious life of these low-profile Sisters is now available in the newly published book by Elsa Thompson Hofmeister ‘56, Extraordinary Ordinary Lives: Vocation Stories of Minnesota Visitation Sisters. This exquisite tome is based upon interviews with fourteen Sisters, whose paths were quite different, yet led to the same beautiful calling. The stories are inspirational and only underscore the honor it is to serve in the school that they brought to life.

Grandparents Galore

May Day was filled with special blessings for Visitation. The morning was given over to a wonderful liturgical celebration, attended by the entire school and hundreds of grandparents and special friends.

I had the opportunity at this gathering to welcome and extend our collective gratitude to all present. We are so appreciative for all of the love and support that so many have demonstrated toward Visitation over time. And as I said in my welcome, each person present has her/his own special and profound connection to this place. Nurturing that connection remains our goal.

So many have helped and supported Visitation over time – helping us sustain our mission and secure our school’s future. At Visitation, we challenge ourselves every day to do just a little bit better. We do so because we are stewards of a place that exists because of so many people who have so generously given so much to our school, and who are the very bedrock of the traditions that sustain us.

During this liturgy, we also asked for special blessings upon our precious seniors and spirited sixth grade boys, who will be embarking upon learning adventures beyond Visitation next year. We have certainly been blessed by their presence.

After Mass, our special friends visited classes, dined, and simply took in the Visitation of today. What a wonderful May Day.

You Have to Smile

The familiar sound of creaky wheels makes its way down the hall. Passing by an open door is a collection of toddlers, safely placed in a Child Care multi-seat wagon. They smile, some wave, an occasional tear appears. They roll on, taking in the views of the school accompanied by caring staff.

This is a familiar sight at Visitation – a sight that brings smiles to anyone in view. The innocence of tiny ones, so excited to do anything, warms hearts here. And this presence of these little children, who come to our infant room as young as six weeks, remind us all how important the very earliest steps of the educational journey are.

We are blessed to span a generation under this roof, with the eldest Sister being 101 years old. The multi-generational aspect of Visitation School life spawns opportunity and celebration. You have to smile.

Poise

Poise is an attribute that runs rampant at Visitation. This poise springs from a combination of talents and skills, underpinned by earnest preparedness. Within the classroom and outside its bounds, our students demonstrate a great deal of aplomb.

Example: Visitation’s FIRST Robotics Team worked diligently to prepare for the 2009 Greater Kansas City Regional Competition, competed confidently, and ultimately won the Judges Award. While this group of budding engineers would have loved to advance to the finals in the competition, they remained poised, congratulated the winners, and set their sights on the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Competition next month.

Example: Visitation’s Mock Trial Team has been voracious in their preparation for each competition and now have advanced for the first time in almost a decade to the state competition in Duluth, which happens next week. As one observes when watching them in action, they carry out their roles in the mock trials with grace and confidence. No doubt they will proceed with shoulders squared and nimble minds at next week’s competition.

Through their own efforts and bolstered and guided by the incredible teachers and volunteers who support undertakings such as these, our students continue to make their marks – with great poise. This is beautiful.

Technology as Tool

Thank you for reading this blog. I intend for it to serve as one of many communication tools for the Visitation community – another route for sharing, reaching out, and connecting. The power of technology is remarkable. And while some challenges certainly present themselves, particularly as it relates to helping students understand its beauty and perils, we are working hard to use it well and wisely.

As part of our communication plan regarding Visitation’s response to the macroeconomic difficulties of these times, we developed my first podcast. I invite you to watch and listen if you have not already done so. It is accessible from visitation. net’s homepage.

Our website is rich with information about Visitation school and community life. Please take a few moments to navigate around the site. I think that you will find interesting facts, find many reasons to smile, and perhaps even reconnect with a person or two. We have much news to share and thank you, in advance, for checking us out.

The Visitation Statue and Prayer

When driving onto campus this morning, I locked my eyes longer than usual on the beautiful bronze statue of the Visitation, located in the Portress circle. While this statue has been in place less than a year, it seems as though it has always been there. It is the perfect welcome to those who arrive at Visitation. After all, one of the Salesian virtues so beautifully embraced by the Sisters is cheerful hospitality. When one views the statue, the roots of that virtue are easily observed.

Mary and Elizabeth lean toward each other in greeting, both with child, both anticipating the new lives to come. The Visitation School Prayer places this moment in a most wonderful context:

Loving God, we celebrate the way you inspired Mary to carry the new life of Christ to her cousin, Elizabeth. We also carry Christ in our hearts, and we celebrate the great things you do for us.

Guide all of us at Visitation to respect and appreciate ourselves and others. As we gather, help us to work for the good of the school and all creation. In the gentle spirit of St. Jane de Chantal and St. Francis de Sales, teach us to love you by serving and supporting one another.

Bless and protect each of us, our families, those we love, and all who are in need of our prayers.

Amen.

Offering this prayer as the calendar turns to 2009 seems especially timely.