Superintendent of Sandusky Central Catholic School retires |
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Written by CARY ASHBY, Special to the Chronicle
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Friday, 06 June 2008 01:00 |
SANDUSKY—As Sylvania Franciscan Sister Mary Jon Wagner puts it, she’s been in education all of her life.
For 23 of the last 40 years, she has been in Sandusky, starting as the principal of Sandusky SS. Peter & Paul School in 1984. Her time in Our Lady of the Lake Deanery is coming to an end, but her life journey in education isn’t over yet.
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Fourth-graders at Sandusky Central Catholic School, from left, Caroline
Linden, Lucas Dwelle and Justice McGuire show Sylvania Franciscan
Sister Mary Jon Wagner, superintendent, the room where they are
monitoring and recording data on the vegetable seeds they planted.
(Photo courtesy of Sandusky Central Catholic School) |
Sr. Wagner resigned effective June 30 as the local superintendent of Sandusky Central Catholic School — a position she’s held since 2002 — to be an assistant congregational minister for the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, the order she’s been a member of for the last 38 years.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sr. Wagner recalls she always wanted to work with children, so the next logical step was to become a teacher.
First, she was a lay junior high teacher at Toledo Regina Coeli School before she entered the Sylvania Franciscan community. She made her first vows in 1970 and perpetual vows in 1973.
“It’s a calling to give back. It’s a call to serve the Lord … (and) serve God’s people through a religious vocation,” she says.
From 1973 until 1976, Sr. Wagner taught junior high math and science at St. Raphael School in Garden City, Mich., while at the same time pursuing a Master of Arts in Administration degree at the University of Detroit.
“We’re crazy,” Sr. Wagner says with a laugh about the educational path taken by many sisters. “We work on our master’s [degree] and teach full-time.”
Her next assignment, principal of the Northeast Regional Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minn., was at a “multi-parish school consolidation,” meaning 7 parish schools plus several other non-school parishes united to form one school. It would be a good preparation for her time in Sandusky.
During her 18 years as principal of SS. Peter & Paul School, it was a parish school. In 2002, the Sandusky parish schools SS. Peter & Paul, St. Mary and Holy Angels; St. Mary Central Catholic High School; and Tri-Parish Preschool and Day Care Program united into one school.
The process of uniting the schools began three years prior with the formation of the Area Catholic Education (ACE) program. One hundred people were involved, including a core committee of pastors, principals and a steering committee, and the focus was to collect data, set goals and create a vision. Sr. Wagner was on the core committee of ACE and was instrumental in the implementation process.
Sr. Wagner says the Catholic schools unified to strengthen the quality of education, to increase enrollment and for financial reasons. She says people wanted the best Catholic education for the most students “at the best financial cost.”
“That was our goal or our vision,” Sr. Wagner says. “Yeah, it was hard,” she continues. “Change is hard. It called people to look at the bigger picture. … People had to give in and give up to make that happen.”
There were affirming parts to the unification. “It brought unity to the community. It continued a Christ-centered mission,” Sr. Wagner says.
She believes Catholic education provides “quality choice, quality option” since people look for a good education with more administrative control yet fewer administrative levels. Sr. Wagner also believes Catholic schools generally provide a value-based education with common goals.
Her goal in her new four-year assignment as an assistant congregational minister is to work in a team to carry out the ministry of the Sylvania-based congregation.
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 09:14 |
