PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
GREETINGS!
As the saying goes, the third time is the charm! As I embark on year three as a principal in the Diocese of Gary, I feel more focused, positive, and energized than ever before. I think the greatest reason for this is that I feel the united energy of the leadership team so strongly and am certain that we are genuinely united in vision and goals. Though some members of my team are new to the school this year, they were hired because they share the vision of excellence and know how to assist in overcoming the challenges faced by Bishop Noll Institute. Get ready, BNI community. We are about to take this school community to a whole new level.
With the same core values of our faith focus, integrity, and loyalty to strong traditions, we also will aim to bring the necessity of innovation to the forefront of all we do. With the completion of the DLC project that was begun 2 ½ years ago as the 2009-2010 school year approached, we realized that Bishop Noll has gained a foothold in the race for creating a true 21st century learning environment. With thirty-nine classrooms equipped as digital learning centers, 7th and 8th graders toting tablet computers from class to class, the high school equipped with six computer labs, and Edline emulating a genuine higher education communications system and teaching tool, we are certain that no other school in northwest Indiana or nearby Chicagoland meets our technological capabilities.
The next step is continuing professional development efforts that will fuel the creativity and innovation needed to discover the immense capabilities of all the equipment available to our faculty and students daily. As teachers and students further develop creative and efficient uses for the technologies at hand, the effectiveness of the educational programs and communications between home and school will continue to improve.
We are at a crossroads where cutting-edge programs are about to change the way students think, learn, discover, and prepare for their futures. We know that our task to prepare these students for jobs that do not exist yet, to use technologies that have not been discovered, and to compete at the global level has been handed to us. We will meet the challenge.
The essential question is How can we best serve and meet the needs of our students to prepare them for future educational endeavors and careers? I believe this has been the bottom line of every principal Bishop Noll has ever had. As I said, we will continue to stay true to Noll core values; we just need to go about our mission in a way none has had the capability to do in the past. The responsibility and excitement of being in this position at this particular time in the school’s history humbles and amazes me.
The current student body of Bishop Noll has so much to offer, and I am sure they will live up to the accomplishments that graduates before them have achieved. With a National Merit Scholar, nearly $400,000 in scholarships earned by the class of 2009, and students embarking on baccalaureate degrees at such institutions as Purdue University, the University of Chicago, Georgetown, Loyola, Notre Dame, St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, Indiana University, and many more, the class of 2010 and those that follow have much to live up to. I am certain that they will. The strong leadership and desire to excel are strong characteristics of the class of 2010. This is a class to watch for great things.
With most sincere humility and grace, I thank you all again for welcoming me into the Bishop Noll community where I will continue to serve with the gifts that God has given me and in the mission He has set before me.
Peace and blessings to all of you!
Colleen McCoy-Cejka, Principal
Bishop Noll Institute