In August of 2000, my husband and I embarked on the next milestone of our young parenting adventure; it was time to send our oldest child to kindergarten. As the product of a Catholic elementary school and a teacher-turned-stay-at- home mom, my heart felt convicted that our children would attend Catholic school. However, our squeaky-tight budget made us question whether this was the best long-term solution for our growing family. With a great leap of faith and the reassurance that “God will provide,” we enrolled our daughter in kindergarten at St. Vincent Ferrer School.

When I picked her up on that first day of school, my daughter shared rapid-fire details about her day. It was clear that her love of learning had been ignited. I will never forget when we sat down for dinner and began our prayers with “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit …” she shouted out, “Hey! We did that at school! Our teacher says we start every day by saying ‘hello’ to God and thanking Him for everything! My teacher says that Jesus is the reason for our school!”

I could not hold back the tears. Clearly, we had made the right choice, and the sacrifices made would be worth it. I knew that, while we would be our children’s first teachers of the faith, their Catholic school teachers over the next 13 years would be widening their Christ-centered worldview and helping shape their faith, their sense of justice, and how they serve others in this world.

Fast forward 25 years. After eight years of teaching kindergarten at St. Vincent Ferrer School, I am now going into my seventh year as principal at the same school my four children attended. As an educator, I am often astounded by the blessings we receive as we share the faith with our students and see them put their faith into action. I think I can speak for so many Catholic educators when I say that I am humbled by the responsibilities I carry as I foster a Christ-centered worldview for students through Catholic education.

To be a Catholic educator is to carry the light of Christ for our students and the families we serve—with the intent of passing that light on to them—so they can go forth and be Christ to one another. While our Catholic schools are known for their academic excellence, this is about far more than teaching content areas, meeting educational standards, and preparing students for the next level. This is about forming disciples that radiate Christ to the world.

And let’s be real. The world desperately needs young men and women who radiate Christ. It is a tough time to be a human being, and one does not have to look very far to see that Christ has been taken out of so much of daily life. What a blessing of hope it is to pass on the faith to our children through our Catholic schools.

As our children are sent into the world, they deserve to hear the message that they are worthy and loved by God so they can in turn share the love of Christ with others. Our children need to hear that their lives—all lives—are precious and worthy of respect and protection, so that, as adults, they will stand and protect the vulnerable in this world. Through the daily teaching of the Catholic faith, children learn that it is not enough to make decisions that serve themselves; they need to make decisions that are Christ-centered and serve the world with integrity and truth. Our Catholic schools are tasked with ensuring that children are armed with faith to lift them to a higher purpose so they can be the ones to bring Christ front and center to a world that is desperately in need of His light.

In the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” As we begin this new school year, may God bless our Catholic educators and their students while we spread the light of Christ to the world through our schools.

Mikki Dunkley is principal at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School in Kenwood, Ohio.

This article appeared in the August 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.