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Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Warren Smith left a shining legacy in Aurora
Thirteen years ago, I wrote the story of Aurora's Warren Smith, who was a retired Catholic school principal and also the retired Aurora Area Superintendent of Catholic Schools. The editor appropriately titled the story as 'A Good Shepherd of Catholic Education in Aurora.' Mr. Smith (he will always be Mr. to students and to teachers who worked under his leadership) passed away in December of 2023. There were no public tributes or media stories at the time of his passing, and he probably would have vetoed any such attempt. As I checked through old school records and talked with people who had worked with him, an amazing story of his life's work and dedication began to open up. The persistent theme of his many years of leadership became obvious: he presided over times of great change in our society, and particularly in Catholic education. In fact, the title of a Beacon-News story in 2018 was 'Change is the norm for Aurora's Catholic Schools.' Mr. Smith's career began as a social studies teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Aurora in 1963. His leadership qualities emerged and, at the age of 28, he became the principal of that school in 1967. As I talked with him for the 2018 story, he mentioned that he began noticing changes soon after assuming his leadership role. 'During the 1960s, and because of Vatican II, some conservative Catholics who didn't want change may have felt pushed out,' he said. 'In 1964, enrollment at our school stood at 800, but around 1970, it began a transition to two rooms per grade instead of three. 'Affordability started to become an issue, and a great decline in the number of teaching Sisters played a big part in the downturn,' he said. Lay teachers were needed to fill that void, and the expense of salaries became an important issue. Budgeting and funding for all of the Catholic schools became an important change starting in the 1970s, and a downward trend in enrollment began. Mr. Smith, along with other administrators and lay leaders, faced this as a new challenge. With a certain amount of bravery, they forged ahead with determination to keep Catholic schools alive and vibrant. Not having enough on his plate, and while continuing as school principal, he was appointed Aurora Area Superintendent of Catholic Schools in 1985, and continued in that role until 1997. His scope immediately increased to his being the leader of nine elementary schools and also Aurora Central Catholic High School. Change was the norm of those years—changes in the church and the Diocese of Rockford, along with legal, constitutional and economic issues and changes. Strong leadership was needed, and Mr. Smith was in the forefront. The most stellar achievement of the Aurora Catholic School System during his years as superintendent was probably the opening of the new Aurora Central Catholic campus on Edgelawn Drive in 1995. It was a multi-year project fraught with many hurdles, but many leaders and volunteers persevered through them all. The final hurdle came when the bishop of the Rockford Diocese wanted to have the project stopped, but that objection was overcome with difficulty. Some referred to the opening of the new campus as a miracle. The following message was one of many left following Mr. Smith's online obituary: 'Warren and Bob (Stewart, longtime principal of Aurora Central Catholic) pulled off and helped sustain a new miracle Catholic high school in the creation of ACC on its new site — along with the many other dedicated and passionate people intent on keeping the ACC school and tradition alive. That is a legacy that transcends time, just as Warren's many other accomplishments will do also.' Also in 1995, Mr. Smith left his role as elementary principal to devote full time and effort to his superintendent's role. I remember his telling me that his first office was an empty room in the new ACC building with a card table and a folding chair. But as he settled into his new routine, the same bishop of Rockford eliminated the job of Aurora Area Superintendent in 1997. Needing to continue working, he became the principal of St. Thomas School in Crystal Lake. He commuted to that position from Aurora, and retired in 2002. Along with his lovely wife Joyce, Mr. Smith continued to be very active back in his home parish at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Aurora, even serving as interim principal of its school in 2003-2004. Together the Smiths authored a book honoring the centennial celebration of the parish in 2009. Mr. Smith chaired several committees, and his advice was always sought for important projects and decisions. His leadership abilities and qualities were always evident, and he sometimes had to make unpopular decisions over the years, as do all effective leaders. At the same time, he was an unassuming and humble person. Throughout three generations of great, and sometimes difficult, changes in education, thousands of young people benefited from the steady and unwavering dedicated leadership of Mr. Warren D. Smith. Long live his memory.
Daily Mail
01-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Labour fears Farage far more than it cares about the white working class
The long, miserable saga of the Labour Party 's war on good state education stretches back through many decades of 'progressive' experiments and plain neglect. It is tempting to think that their parallel hostility to private schools is partly motivated by the proof fee-charging schools provide, that good schooling is still possible. If they could tax them out of existence and drive them abroad, it would be easier to pretend that publicly funded education is satisfactory. Well, of course it is – for some children. The Labour elite know this very well, as they take elaborate steps to avoid the sorts of schooling most children have to endure, hiring private tutors, moving into costly catchment areas of exceptional academies, or developing a convenient enthusiasm for religion. Catholic schools, schools in pleasant rural areas, schools in well-off suburbs and above all schools whose pupils generally have the support of strong, stable families do reasonably well, even despite the crazy, ever-changing policies visited on them by Leftist ideologues. But the worst losers from all this experimentation have been the white working class, who have suffered from the death of traditional industry, the general decline of stable married families, the absence of fathers and the resulting break-up of family and kinship in urban areas. This is typical of Left-wing policies in modern Britain. The ideas most warmly embraced by the north London Leftist elite are also the ideas that do the most damage to the voters who have for decades kept Labour in power. For a long time there really was not much those traditional voters could do about this gap between promise and fulfilment. Now, thanks to the rapid growth of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, there is. In fact, Mr Farage is so keen to appeal to Labour defectors that he is becoming quite Left-wing in his late middle age. Whether this is sincere or not, we have yet to discover. But it is certainly working. Labour voters are deserting their ancestral party. And the Labour high command are panicking. The latest to do so is Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. She has led the charge against private schools, using punitive taxes to drive poorer families into the state sector. Now Ms Phillipson is moving in on Mr Farage's left flank, complaining that white working-class children are being betrayed and left behind. She is quite right to say this. New data shows that such children are doing acceptably well only in a tiny 21 of the 3,400 secondary schools in England. She promises an inquiry into this shocking failure, which may even report while she is still in office. But what will it tell us that we do not already know? The poorer your area, the worse your school is likely to be. Ms Phillipson's actions haven't been much help so far. Shadow Schools Minister Neil O'Brien accuses her of cutting support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing. The grim truth is that, despite its claimed preoccupation with education, Labour has never had much of a plan for helping the children of the poor. Its obsession with encouraging mass migration and 'rubbing the Right's nose in diversity' meant it tended to view the white working class not as friends but as bigots, for it was among such citizens that the tougher consequences of such immigration were most keenly felt. New Labour's shiny New Britain never arrived in the grim housing estates, blasted by unemployment and anti-social behaviour, where good education is still a dream.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dell Rapids St. Mary students learn about conclave
DELL RAPIDS, S.D. (KELO) — The process to elect a new leader of the Catholic church is underway. More than 130 cardinals make up the conclave that will choose the next pope. The meeting comes more than two weeks after the death of Pope Francis. Energy co-op talks data center boom in SD St. Mary elementary students in Dell Rapids got a special lesson on day one of the papal conclave. Parish pastor and school superintendent Father Shane Stevens showed kids in grades Pre-K through 6 a live view of the chimney that will eventually indicate when a new pope is chosen. It was part of his afternoon discussion with the kids about the conclave and some of the history of the papacy. 'I think it was really cool and very interesting to learn how they do it,' 4th Grader Kate Burgard said. 'We live in a very visual world, and I was saying to the children how amazing it is that I can literally be watching live from Rome in South Dakota what's going on over there. And so it's very visual, and our children are very visual. They have grown up with tablets and internet and YouTube so to see all of this unfold before them, I think, is really exciting. I'm 51 and I'm very excited,' Stevens said. While the hierarchy of the Catholic church is already integrated into the curriculum at St. Mary Catholic Schools, this moment in time provides a unique learning opportunity. 'It's a pretty important, and I think significant role in the world, so to try to impress that upon them and for them to understand this is a part of their heritage, part of their tradition is really exciting,' Stevens said. Earlier Wednesday, black smoke billowed out of the chimney, meaning the cardinals have not elected a new pope yet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
