Lessons in Teamwork Prepare Holy Family Students to be Future Leaders and Thinkers for the 21st Century

“Leaders and thinkers, grounded in faith” is the motto of Holy Family Academy in Inverness. Last week students met a leader in their community, Mr. Jim Schwantz, Mayor of Palatine. Mayor Schwantz graciously accommodated the inquiring minds of students at each end of the academic spectrum meeting with both first grade and eighth grade students.

The visit coincided with the study of community in the first grade classes. This unit is taught using Inquiry Based learning-- a method of instruction that applies knowledge learned in core subjects to an authentic issue or problem, thus linking knowledge to thinking. Each inquiry unit begins with a request to analyze a situation. Students develop a plan to research, organize, evaluate and report information. In this case, Fr. Terry Keehan, Pastor at Holy Family Parish, requested the first grade students to prepare a booklet to help new parishioners learn about our community. “Our first grade students are learning how to problem solve and think critically as they decide how to approach this assignment. Clearly, these are skills that prepare our students for the 21st century work force,” states first grade teacher Mrs. Laura Moynihan.

Much to the delight of his young audience, Mayor Schwantz opened his comments by thanking them for their work in welcoming newcomers. Smiles broke out from ear to ear as the Mayor validated their project.

After the mayor explained his duties, he opened the floor for questions. While some were interested in how long he went to school to become mayor or how much reading was needed for his job, many “oohs and aahs” came when someone asked about the “big ring” he was wearing. Mayor Schwantz shared a little bit about his days in the NFL and his Super Bowl ring with his newest fans.

Moving to the eighth grade class required a quick shifting of gears for Mayor Schwantz. While this age group was duly impressed with his Super Bowl ring, the questions they asked were targeted to their study of the U.S. Constitution. The students learned how the Constitution affects everything the Mayor does in the village of Palatine as well as how decisions made in Washington have economic consequences to our hometowns. Perhaps the most significant lesson these students learned was that Mayor Schwantz' most important qualification for his job is his ability to be a team player.

The future community leaders at Holy Family Academy are clearly learning to solve problems and think critically. But equally important, in government and in life, problems are solved when we work together to find the “best way”, not just “my way” –yet another lesson that is preparing these students for the life in the 21st century.