No one can deny that education looks different this year. Masks, social distancing, virtual classes, and alternating schedules have now become part of everyday life for families. Parents are balancing new forms of education with the variable that on any given day, schedules may need to be completely reworked. 

A few years ago, a senior at St. Lawrence Seminary High School was applying to the prestigious United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The Rector at the time helped write a letter of recommendation for him and also put him in touch with an alumnus of St. Lawrence Seminary who had graduated from the Naval Academy.

As 8th graders enter their final year of middle school, it’s important to further develop good habits for high school. These tips will help them prepare for the transition from middle to high school.

When considering a catholic school, many parents ask themselves: what’s the value of this education? The benefit of a catholic school is the holistic approach to teaching resulting in a well-rounded education for your child. Catholic schools impart a lifelong spiritual commitment evidenced in graduates by their civic responsibility, discipline and humility. Studies suggest that students who attend private high schools will have higher college GPAs and a higher likelihood of graduating than students who attend public high schools (source). A catholic education can even provide advantages beyond what secular private schools can offer.

Many parents decide to put their children in a traditional high school setting without considering the benefits of an alternative high school experience. If parents would take the time to research and consider choosing boarding school for their high school-age children, they would see the benefits of an option like boarding school over traditional high school.

There are many benefits of attending a boarding school. Here are the top three that have a lasting impact on a student’s future.

For most people, boarding school is a little mysterious. While pop culture has dramatized boarding school stories, the reality is quite different. Boarding school offers an immersive educational experience that is both challenging and rewarding for students. And with very small class sizes, an excellent college matriculation rate and a diverse student life environment, boarding school is not to be passed on lightly. So, what is boarding school really like?

Currently, there’s a large push in education for more STEM-based curriculum (and even more recently, that’s expanded into STREAM). But what does this mean? What does it look like? And how does St. Lawrence Seminary use this curriculum? This article will break it all down.

As followers of St. Francis of Assisi, the friars of the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph strongly decry the killing of George Floyd. This violent act serves as a reminder not just of injustice in the present day, but of a 400-year history of white supremacy in the United States. We also object to the use of force, and the threat of military force in particular, against peaceful, unarmed citizens exercising their constitutionally-guaranteed right to freedom of assembly. All of this is fundamentally unjust and it must end. 

As Capuchin friars of the Province of St. Joseph, our work has long focused on racial justice. Our Capuchin brother, Servant of God Stephen Eckert, who ministered in Milwaukee in the early 20th century, was, and is, a model for us today on working for justice and equality. Today that work is continued by friars and partners in ministry throughout our province as we seek to prayerfully build sister-brotherhood in the world.

Together with people of goodwill around the nation, we unite in prayer and call for action in the pursuit of truth, reconciliation, and reparation for the sin of racism. So let us pray together, asking the intercession of Servant of God Stephen Eckert, for an end to racial injustice. And let us encounter one another, appreciate one another, and accompany the oppressed in our communities. Together we can fight for a more just society. We do this remembering Our Savior's commandment to "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another (John 13:34-35)."

In sister-brotherhood, I wish you peace and all good.

Br. Michael Sullivan, OFM Cap.
Provincial Minister
Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph

Celebrating the baptism of a child is one of the most important sacraments. It is also the only sacrament that begins with a question. Parents are asked the name of their child and what they ask for their child. The answer to the first question obviously varies from child to child. The answer to the second question should always be the same: “baptism”.