Interview with the Principal
We sat down with Sacred Heart School Principal Ken Mastel and asked him a few questions about what he thought of his school, his staff and his students. Here’s what he had to say:
Q: What are some of the unique features of your school?
A: Faith-focus is number one. That’s what everything revolves around here.
Sacred Heart School is the “Catholic School of Arts”. It’s best described as “experiential-learning.” It’s the multiple intelligences of getting kids using a number of parts of their brain when they’re learning a topic.
We don’t rest on the status quo of teaching.
Q: How do you define student success?
A: There are so many ways you want kids to be successful.
I think ultimately, we’re leading kids to a faith-filled life and in the end; hopefully that leads them to a happy life.
That’s what’s important to us.
Q: What are you most proud of at your school?
A: The commitment that our school has to faith, and that all ties back to relationships.
I think the relationships our students have with our staff, that our staff have with each other and that the kids have with each other. That’s what makes me the most proud. And that is all wrapped in that faith blanket.
Q: What makes your school “good” and how do you know?
A: How I know that we’re doing well is I look at the programming that we’re able to offer in our school and how it benefits our students. That tells me we’re doing a good job.
Every time you bring a new program in it taxes your staff. But that’s what makes me proud, that we’re able to provide all these programs for our students. The whole goal is to get kids to love school.
Q: Why do you value a Catholic-based education?
A: It’s just who we are.
We’re not a school for Catholic kids. We’re a Catholic school for kids.
Our role in the kids’ evangelization is to bring Christ to kids. We have a triangle of faith-immersion. It’s the home, the school, and the parish and each part of the triangle plays a role. Without any one part of the triangle, it starts to break apart.
We want kids to come for the hockey and the arts but find faith.
Q: How does a Catholic education benefit students?
A: Having faith, a belief that there’s more out there than yourself, is a universal feeling.
I know some people will argue that you can be a happy person without faith and I won’t argue that with anybody, but I think faith just sets up your life. Your relationships, who you’re going to marry and how you’re going to treat that person.
If you learn to live by the example of Christ then you’ll have a much better chance of having happy relationships and happy kids.
Q: Describe the school’s sense of community.
A: Our staff is committed to various parts of the community.
Some are involved in minor hockey whether it is in coaching or refereeing. Many of our staff members are involved in the parish leading sacraments, leading the music ministry, past president of the CWL, looking after the altar servers and washing their robes and that kind of thing.
They don’t do it because they have a job at the Catholic school and they think they have to do it to keep their contract. It’s the exact opposite. They’d do it regardless if they were working here or not.
Journalist-
Andreas Morse
