Some of the holiest people around are also some of the most quiet and unassuming. Jesus often pointed out that spiritual bravado wasn’t the equivalent of holiness. He spoke up against the Pharisees praying aloud for all to hear, while highlighting the barely-noticeable widow who put a few coins in the offering jar. We all know of the salt-of-the-earth folks who go about their lives matter-of-factly doing good – they don’t have a position of authority in their job or the community, yet their example shines forth and their goodness inspires others to become better.

It is a paradox of Christianity that strength and truth often arrive humbly wrapped – in swaddling clothes, for example.
 
And if this is true for Christian people, it is also true for Christian institutions. Dominican High School, a small co-ed Catholic high school in Whitefish Bay, is so quiet and unassuming, it doesn’t even show up on the radar of some parents considering Catholic high school for their children.
 
But for those who slow down enough to take a look at Dominican – for those who recognize the Gospel connection between humility and greatness – they invariably find in Dominican the genuine beauty of Catholic education done right.
 

St. Joseph Lower Academy students listen to the blessing and dedication at St. Joseph Upper Academy in Kenosha on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010. The school is in its first year as a K-12 school and is a model for Catholic education across the country. (Catholic Herald photo by Allen Fredrickson)On any given day, students at St. Joseph Catholic Academy in Kenosha might be speaking Mandarin Chinese, Italian, French or Spanish, studying from their personal laptops, or meeting with a campus minister to discuss faith issues.
 
Not too surprising for a group of high school students, right?

However, these are middle school students, and this K-12 school has become a model for Catholic education across the county.

In its first year as a K-12 school, St. Joseph Academy has changed Catholic education. While the Catholic educational system in the United States is suffering financial setbacks and closing or merging parish schools, St. Joseph Academy reflects a new era in successful collaborative community education.
 
Following more than 20 years of committees, task forces and debates regarding the future of Catholic education in the Kenosha area, St. Joseph Academy formed in the 2010-11 school year with the merging of the 53-year-old St. Joseph High School, St. Joseph Inter-parish Junior High and the recently closed St. Mark Elementary School. According to president Robert Freund, the transformation was a period of intense difficulty, but the school has not only survived, but also thrived beyond its expectations.
 

Nanabayin-Kofi Coleman is a 2010 graduate of St. Lawrence Seminary, Mt. Calvary. (Submitted photo courtesy St. Lawrence Seminary)While many teenagers go on mission trips each summer, it was what happened away from the worksite that had the most impact on Nanabayin-Kofi Coleman.

Following his junior year at St. Lawrence Seminary High School in Mt. Calvary, Coleman went to impoverished south Texas in 2009. Laboring with fellow students to help build a simple home for an elderly woman hammered home the importance of service ministry.

“What I saw was pretty shocking,” he said recently in an interview with your Catholic Herald Parenting. “Each night we had a reflection on what we can do with our service, putting things in perspective.

“I realized if I complain, I really don’t have it that bad. There’s a lot of suffering in the world beyond what I see on a daily basis.”

Coleman, 18, credits his education at St. Lawrence Seminary for helping him process his emotions about the mission trip and other forms of volunteering.

“Things might come up again on a Saturday night in the dorm – how to put faith into practice,” Coleman said. “Could I have gotten that experience with a different group of people? I don’t know.”

A “Jeopardy” champion with a master’s degree in meteorology, Michael Falk is now a junior high school math teacher at St. Mary Visitation School, Elm Grove. Pictured in his classroom on Thursday, Jan. 20, Falk likes to challenge his students with activities such as regular “brain busters.” (Catholic Herald photo by Ernie Mastroianni)Why would a “Jeopardy!” champion with a master’s degree in meteorology opt to teach at a Catholic elementary school?

Simply because of something – better make that some things – he saw.

A year or so ago, Michael Falk, who had won more than $300,000 during several appearances on the popular quiz program in 2006, came upon an advertisement for a junior high math teacher at St. Mary Visitation School in Elm Grove.
 
“The job description looked like it was written with me in mind,” Falk recently recalled for your Catholic Herald Parenting. He visited the school and “saw a strong Christ-centered community with excellent parental involvement, rigorous academics and great opportunities for spiritual growth for both staff and students.”

Having spent a semester at the front of a St. Mary’s classroom, Falk might just be more enthusiastic than ever. The 31-year-old teacher called St. Mary “a great place to learn and work and share faith with others.”

Emmitt Gehl, second grade, files into his classroom on the first day of class, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, at the [...]