Portland St. Patrick Catholic School

At the end of the last school year, our long-time and beloved math teacher, Ann Marie Pung retired.  We knew it would take a special person to replace her.  After spending much time conducting many interviews and after much prayer and discernment from the entire interview team, we hired Mr. Terry Austen.  During Mr. Austen’s interview, he mentioned that one of the assignments he would have his students complete if he were hired as math teacher at St. Patrick High School would be to write a reflection paper on “what do math and the crucifix (an image of Jesus Christ on the cross) have in common?”

He would have students complete this assignment because he knew we stress writing across the curriculum and he wanted to make sure the students understood the correlation between their faith and learning.

 A few weeks ago, Mr. Austen followed through with that assignment and asked his seniors to write a reflective paper on that very topic.  He summarized the responses in a list.  Some are serious and some are humorous but all are full of wisdom. The responses he received are paraphrased below.

What do math and the crucifix have in common?

• It is there as a silent reminder of God’s love for us.
• It is there so we can learn about math and religion at the same time.
• It reminds us of the priests and nuns who started Catholic schools.
• It is there because God gave us an intellect, which separates us from the rest of creation.
• If Jesus died for us then we can do our statistics every night.
• It is there to inspire us to encourage weaker students to have more confidence and courage.
• Math is always the same, likewise God’s love.
• Every single detailed aspect of math was created by him.
• The math problems we face are nothing compared to what Jesus went through on the cross.
• It reminds us to be compassionate to others – like helping them with their math homework.
• The crucifix motivates us to not only get our work done, but to do it well.
• It shows others that God is there watching over them, ensuring a good, healthy learning environment.
• God is always right by our side through all the challenges we face.
• The crucifix is the perfect mascot for mathematics.
• Math is full of mysteries, just like how we have broken phases of Jesus’ life into mysteries.
• It teaches us to trust in the math procedures, just like we have to trust in God’s plan.
• It is something to turn to for help when doing a difficult problem or test.
• It gives me the courage and strength to not give up, even when that’s all I want to do.
• It teaches the values of everyday life and how to act and love others around us.
• The pain my head will go through is not nearly as bad as the pain Jesus went through.

I do not believe there is anything that I can add to that list.   It definitely makes me appreciate the spirituality, wisdom, and humor of our high school seniors.  It reminds me, too, that St. Patrick School is a place where faith and education meet.