Educators awarded for innovative, faith-filled drive to advance Catholic schools

Several leaders in Catholic education have been recognized for infusing their mission with faith and dedication.

On Feb. 3, the National Catholic Educational Association, which represents some 140,000 educators serving 1.6 million students, announced the recipients of its President’s Awards and its Lifetime Commitment to Catholic Education Award. The honors will be formally presented during the NCEA 2025 Convention in Orlando, Fla., April 22-24.

The five NCEA President’s Awards, which honor past presidents of the Arlington, Va.-based organization, are bestowed on individuals and institutions that exemplify leadership and support in enhancing Catholic school education in the U.S.

The NCEA Lifetime Commitment to Catholic Education Award highlights those who have over the arc of their careers advanced the mission of Catholic education.

The 2025 lifetime commitment award has been conferred on Ursuline Sister Joanne Callahan. She leads the U.S. Province of the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, located in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y.

Sister Joanne told OSV News that the honor was an affirmation of her order and its foundress, St. Angela Merici (1474-1540), who in the 16th century drew up a rule for the Christian education of girls.

“She was committed to educating women and children,” Sister Joanne said. “And we’ve always taken that very seriously.”

After being taught herself by Ursuline sisters, she entered the community in 1967 and began her five-decade career as a Catholic educator — most of it spent within the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where she lives at St. William the Abbot Parish in Seaford, N.Y.

Sister Joanne began at St. William in 1972 as a teacher and returned as principal following an eight-year assignment at a Catholic high school in Connecticut. Afterward, she moved to the diocesan Catholic education office.

As director of regional school planning, she helped forge the future of Catholic schools in the diocese.

“We divided all of the parishes into 27 regions, and their job was to decide how they were going to continue Catholic education in each region,” Sister Joanne said.

Presidential award recipient David Faber, superintendent of Catholic education for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Mich., was recognized with the NCEA’s Dr. Karen M. Ristau Innovations Award for training his eye on the future of Catholic schools.

“We created a vision for an alliance of schools in order to expand our educational ministry,” he told OSV News. “We’ve created an alliance of Catholic schools that are truly working together, and that has allowed us to really grow our diocesan-wide enrollment in seven of the last 10 years.”

Farber added that expansion came despite the fact that Michigan is not a school choice state.

“You don’t have tax opportunities for parents to use tax dollars or tax credits to attend Catholic schools,” he explained.

Faber noted that their Catholic school mindset is also different.

“We don’t even call it enrollment growth anymore,” he said.

“We call it evangelization growth to keep our focus on why we do this: to really bring as many young people and their families to know Christ and to encounter him daily,” he said.

Looking ahead, Sister Joanne pointed to the need for increased investment in Catholic education amid what she called “a world of chaos,” where “values just don’t seem to exist like they used to.”

“We need leaders who are going to be morally aware of what we need to do for our neighbors,” said Sister Joanne. “We need to encourage our young people to not just think of themselves, but of parishioners, of our own country, people who don’t have enough to eat, and certainly the worldwide questions … places where children say they don’t have anything. We have an obligation to educate our students to know they are responsible for trying to do something to better the world.”

Along with recognizing Sister Joanne and Farber, the NCEA announced the following honors:

— Catherine T. McNamee, CSJ Award: Tamiko Armstead, president and CEO, Cardinal Ritter College Prep (Archdiocese of St. Louis);

— Msgr. John F. Meyers Award: Msgr. Richard Duncanson, board of trustees, Academy of Our Lady of Peace (Diocese of San Diego);

— C. Albert Koob Merit Award: Daryl Hagan, director, Institute for the Transformation of Catholic Education at The Catholic University of America in Washington;

— Leonard F. DeFiore Parental Choice Advocate Award: Lauren May, director of advocacy, Step Up for Students (Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee).

“These leaders embody the essence of servant leadership, bringing faith and purpose to their work in Catholic education,” said NCEA president and CEO Steven F. Cheeseman in the organization’s news release. “By their example, they show us how to live out our shared mission of shaping lives and building communities grounded in the love of Christ. We honor their inspiring commitment to this sacred work.”

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