The following is a reflection by Mike Fletcher.
Fans of Back to the Future will recall that, at the conclusion of the first movie, Doc Brown tells Marty and Jennifer they need to move quickly because something has to be done about the future of their kids. As they journey ahead, Doc ends the film confidently saying, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
March 12, 2021 marked an anniversary I don’t believe any of us really care to celebrate. It was one year ago when we learned that all K-12 schools in Ohio would close for a period of three weeks. The LCA administrative team gathered together to watch that press conference, just before the time when gatherings would be deemed unsafe. While the moments following that announcement undoubtedly included questions and uncertainty, the office in which we stood immediately filled with such a sense of urgency that fear and trepidation simply had no place to stand. Unlike Doc Brown and his friends, for whom roads would not be needed, we found that the roads we were to travel over the next year would be paved with each step we took. Despite an extraordinary number of unknowns, we too would journey ahead understanding that something had to be done about our children.
With a communion of teachers (Saints), LCA took on each challenge not by asking if it could be overcome, but how. Supported by our courageous families, Lakewood Catholic Academy spent 365 days showing how meaningful, purposeful, and joyful engagement of students can continue, and how faith, health and opportunities for growth can remain in balance in an unstable world.
St. Augustine once said, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” This approach so precisely describes that which we have taken — one which we are confident has made our families, and St. Augustine himself, proud. While we hope that the challenges we have seen over the last year need not be conquered again, we know that the road ahead will be anything but smooth, and it is with St. Augustine’s words in mind that we continue to move forward.
Through everything, the past twelve months has reminded us of the spirit, courage and strength of the LCA community. Even before taking on a worldwide pandemic, Lakewood Catholic Academy journeyed ahead each day knowing that something had to be done for our kids. The sense of urgency in that office on March 12, 2020 wasn’t born anew. It was simply exposed for the powerful and guiding force that it already was. As we begin to turn the corner on an unprecedented year, we remain committed to journeying forward on a road we will continue to pave, with a staff we will continue to admire, for students we will continue to love.
Roads? Where we’re going, we’ll pave the way.
From one generation to the next. On March 12, 2021, a time capsule was buried on LCA’s campus. Someday, future Saints can unearth its contents, which include words of reflection from our Saints at Home student journals, SaintsTV episodes, an LCA mask, and memories from the 2020 yearbook. When history called, the Saints of LCA showed up with courage and faith. May our small acts of fortitude inspire future Saints!