The courage of a former Christ the Redeemer Catholic School chairwoman helped convince an Okotoks trustee to move to the head of the table for the school division.
“The reason I took it on was I thought I was being a coward by not taking it on,” said Ron Schreiber, who was sworn in as CTR Catholic chairman at the end of September. “Mary did it and she had all the health issues. I should have as strong as faith as she did to see it through.
“We believe as Catholics, that if God gives you a job to do, he will provide you the wherewithal to complete it. Mary proved that.”
Schreiber succeeds Mary Stengler who passed away from cancer in August.
The Okotoks trustee not only brings his strong Catholic faith to the chair, but also plenty of experience. He was a trustee at Assumption Catholic School in Oyen where he helped bring that community into the CTR Catholic fold.
He has been the Okotoks trustee for the past 15 years. He also was the vice-chair while Stengler was battling cancer.
Although the person in the head chair has changed, the issues facing CTR Catholic have not.
“Challenges continue to be facilities,” Schreiber said. “Also continuing academic excellence with our Catholic learning communities … Protecting them, providing them the reassurance that we are here and we are here to serve them.”
He said there are always rumblings from people who want to take down Catholic education. One of the strengths of CTR Catholic is also one of its obstacles – its vast geography. It has schools from Canmore to Oyen, east to west. It also has thousands of home-school students from across the province being taught through the highly-successful Centre For Learning out of Okotoks.
“It (the differences of each school) is aggravated by distance,” Schreiber agreed. “But that has made us stronger. It cements in us the fact that we look after our brother. Small schools need a lot of care and attention and we have large successful schools that are doing well, so they lend support.
“We are our brother’s keeper. That is a good lesson to take home. At the end of the day we strive to leave not one heart behind.”
Schreiber readily admits he is just one person at the board table with the other trustees. Those trustees have experienced administration to support them.
The CTR Catholic team has one goal – to care for students, Schreiber stressed.
“Looking after all our kids no matter what -- they are kids and they are all created in God’s image,” Schreiber said. “They are priceless beyond belief and our mandate is to look after them.”
Schreiber will chair CTR Catholic’s next board meeting which is Oct. 27 at Okotoks.
For more information go to redeemer.ab.ca
