Catholic School Education: Mixed-Faith Family

We are a mixed-race, mixed-faith, mixed-culture household. My husband and I are trying to maintain our Polish and Iranian identity while also striving to weave Canadian culture and tradition into our home.

Hopes, Dreams, and Plans for our Future

My husband and I were best friends before we were anything more. We spent years talking about our hopes, dreams and plans for the future without even realizing that our futures would become ‘our future’.  Those easy conversations paved the way for the harder ones.

Growing up I was raised Roman Catholic and my husband was raised Muslim. For me it was church and for hubby it was mosque. Ultimately though we both had God and we agreed that no matter what path we took to him, he was still the same God.

The Path to the Catholic School Decision

Once we started the discussion of having kids together the conversation quickly panned to religion and in turn education. As two very stubborn people we did have some back and forth. I wanted them raised Catholic, he wanted them raised Muslim, and then we realized that we can raise them with both religions taking equal importance. We didn’t have to choose one or the other, one of us did not have to lose out, and the kids in the end would win.

Once we realized that, the education decision was the easy part. Both my husband and I went to school in both the Catholic and public school system. He did predominately public and I did all but one high school semester in Catholic. It wasn’t until I left the Catholic school board that I realized how much I loved and appreciated the faith-based education model. I begged to go back.

It was with our combined experiance with both the public and Catholic school systems that we decided that our kids would get the best possible start in the Catholic school system. Even though the public school was across the street and would have been easier to send them to we stuck by our beliefs and have never looked back.

Core Values, Faith, and Good Kids

More than just math, geography, science and gym our kids are learning about being good people. They are taught to have faith, not just in God but in themselves. They are taught to be generous not just by donating money and goods but also by donating their time. They don’t do it to be recognized for their good deeds, they do it because they genuinely want to be helpful.

They’re taught kindness and acceptance. We encourage them to not only be nice to their peers that are different but to also include them. When they come home telling us of a new student that has come to their school we love hearing how they are included in their lessons.

We love that our Catholic teachers promote values that we stand by like fairness, compassion, respect, concern for social justice and the environment. These may be universal values in schools but our kids are thriving in this faith-based model that encourages them to become engaged and contributing citizens, now and when they grow up.

Core values make good kids who in turn become good adults and above all, we want to strive to instill the importance of God in our kids lives.

More With Ontario’s Catholic Teachers

To find out more about Ontario Catholic Teachers and their Lessons for Life message head on over to their website.

Learn More

Need some more inspiration. Check out how a Catholic education goes further and truly become Lessons for Life with some of these inspiring stories of community engagement and inclusion.

Aneta Alaei

Aneta is a Toronto-based mom of four that loves a good meal, great company, and learning something new. In her free time, you can find her trying to keep yet another plant alive.

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