Catholic schools are often an investment, but for supporters of Catholic education, the good that comes out of Catholic schools is priceless.
Archbishop Jerome Listecki and Catholic education advocates are hosting the Archbishop’s Catholic Schools Dinner on Feb. 22, with a cocktail reception starting at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee.
“The dinner is a celebration of Catholic education and a chance to learn more about how important it is and to give back, to pay it forward, for students and families who will be in Catholic schools,” John Herbers, co-chair of the dinner, said.
All proceeds from the dinner will go to the archdiocese, which will use the funds to help support marketing and advancement services for the schools.
John and Norma Herbers, the chairs of the dinner for the second year in a row, have been involved with the dinner for about four years. Catholic education is important to them as a family, John said. Their children all attended St. Monica School in Whitefish Bay, their sons attended Marquette University High School and their daughter attended Divine Savior Holy Angels High School (DSHA).
“Catholic education is important because of the values it helps develop in children,” John said. “The values that the kids learn in the classroom and throughout the day are the exact same values we’re teaching at home: faith in God, working with others no matter who they are, giving back to the community, hard work and dedication.”
The featured speaker at the dinner is Dr. Daniel Scholz, who will speak about how innovative and vibrant Catholic education is transformational for not only the Church, but also for the larger community. Scholz is the dean of the college of arts and sciences at Cardinal Stritch University and has experience teaching at the high school level, the university level and also at St. Francis de Sales Seminary. His wife, Bonnie, is the principal of Catholic Central High School in Burlington, and he and his family belong to Christ King Parish.
The Catholic schools in the archdiocese are phenomenal, said John. The archdiocese teaches roughly 31,000 students a year in 107 Catholic elementary and secondary schools. That makes the Archdiocese of Milwaukee 12th in the total number of students enrolled in Catholic schools across the country. John also said the Seton Catholic Schools, based around a newer model in the archdiocese that educates students in the 21st century while overcoming social and economic challenges in the city itself, and the Sienna Catholic Schools of Racine, a similar model, are phenomenal extensions and really enrich Catholic education in the archdiocese.
John said he and his wife expect 700 guests at the dinner.
“We know February is a cold winter month, but we also know that there’s a tremendous energy in that room the night of the dinner, with educators and supporters all coming together to make Catholic schools in the archdiocese that much stronger,” he said.
To attend the dinner, RSVP to Jenny Mendenhall at 414-769-3451 or mendenhallj@archmil.org by Feb. 12.
