Canton principal knows `whereof she speaks’
By Fabvienen Taylor
CANTON — Thea Faulkner’s job has taken her to various venues touting the advantages for students attending Holy Child Jesus and in Jackson, Sister Thea Bowman elementary schools.
Not long after Faulkner was hired by the Diocese of Jackson to promote the schools, she made a presentation at a United Methodist church in Canton.
“After church so many Holy Child Jesus alumni proudly came up to me that if I had known they were there, I would have asked them to stand up in the church,” said Faulkner, public relations/marketing consultant for the Office of Catholic Schools. “Now I know to ask when making presentations.
Faulkner described Holy Child Jesus as an “oasis” in Canton.
“Everyone knows everyone, there is a family atmosphere and there is a lot of pride connected to it,” she said.
Faulkner works to spread the word about the pre-K — sixth-grade school and its “60 years of academic excellence in a peaceful, Christ-like setting.”
Unsurprising, Holy Child principal Felicia Stewart also promotes Holy Child’s attributes.
However, while Faulkner came to know Holy Child from the outside in, Stewart got to know it from the inside out. In other words, she “knows whereof she speaks.”
Stewart attended Holy Child from pre-K3 through the eighth grade. “Both my parents, Linda and Marion Jackson graduated from Holy Child. My aunts attended too. My father even taught there at one time,” she said.
As a matter of fact, her grandfather, Fred Otto, a carpenter, helped build the school building.
“So being principal here is not just another job. I see it as a mission. It was really divine intervention for me to get this job, to come here and enhance the perception people have of Holy Child Jesus School,” said Stewart.
She is completing her first year as principal.
Prior to taking the helm last summer, she taught literature and language arts at Callaway High School in Jackson and prepared students for the Mississippi Subject Area Test Program (SATP).
Faulkner said Holy Child has always had a lot going for it.
“The school has a group of teachers and administrators who genuinely care about the well-being of the whole child, emotionally, spiritually, academically, in character-building, in everything,” she said.
“It is a phenomenal village,” Faulkner said, noting the principal before Stewart, Sister Anita Henning, developed small groups of students, or “families,” of different ages who come together from time to time around different activities.
“Holy Child has always been a good product, a good school,” she said, “and as an alum, Felicia understands the community and the needs of the community.”
Stewart has added to the range of opportunities for students in academics, arts and sports, according to Faulkner.
She is working to help change the perception of Holy Child Jesus as a school for poor African-American children.
“So many people have had that perception over the years. I want people to know Holy Child Jesus is a Catholic school in a Catholic community serving people of all Christian faiths, especially those Catholics in the Canton area,” Stewart said.
“Our students are meeting national test standards, not only those of the state,” Stewart said, pointing out the students achieve average and above on tests given by the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA).
“Therefore, our students leave Holy Child with a better understanding of what is required of them nationally so they do better on SAT and other tests. They are better prepared for what they need to achieve on a national level than just on the state level,” she said.
“My goal is to let parents know we offer a sports program — football, soccer and basketball — not only to students, but children from Holy Child Jesus and Sacred Heart parishes,” she said.
In addition to Spanish, Latin is offered to fifth and sixth graders. Music has always been an integral part of the curriculum and now art too has come to the forefront, according to Faulkner.
“It helps to determine how well the students are comprehending their studies. Art takes things a step further by giving an opportunity for all the different learning — tactile, visual, and so forth — to be brought to the table by the students,” Faulkner said.
Improvements and renovations over the last few years make the school building and rooms “more aesthetically pleasing and inspirational quotes from Scripture to Dr. Martin Luther King to Sister Thea Bowman (most well-known alumnae) instill the students with pride,” Faulkner said.
It is a pride Stewart returns to over and over in her conversation.
“It is truly an honor to be here. I feel privileged to be here. Some days are extra hard because we struggle financially but I love my job, love what I am doing. Holy Child Jesus is something that belongs to me. It’s family.”
As a mission school Holy Child Jesus receives funds from the annual Catholic Service Appeal (CSA).
In addition to mission schools/parishes the CSA helps fund seminarian education, Catholic Charities, campus ministry, priests’ retirement and clergy assistance, and evangelization.
“Imitate Christ’s Love” is the theme of the 2009 CSA collection/pledge weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 2-3, in all parishes/missions in the Diocese of Jackson.
