Brainpower Connection Schools Gather to Kick Off Academic Year

August 19, 2022

The UIW Brainpower Connection schools gathered in the McCombs Center Rosenberg Sky Room on Tuesday, Aug. 9, for the annual Brainpower Presentation and Social. During the event, participants heard words of wisdom from presenter Sr. Mary Fagan of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate. Sr. Mary is a longtime teacher at the Healy Murphy Center.

Sr. Mary shared her "Beatitudes for Teachers," bringing into focus the higher calling of teaching as a ministry. Following the keynote speaker, everyone enjoyed catching up over some light refreshments.

“We love bringing our Brainpower schools together as a community at the start of each school year,” shared Patricia Ramirez, director of Brainpower Connection programs. “It is a very tangible representation of the strength this collegial relationship has to support the teachers who provide the very best educational experience for Brainpower students, from Pre-K through higher education.”

Sr. Fagan, SHSp's Beatitudes for Teachers included the following blessings, among others:

  • Blessed are the teachers who stop time when they speak to a student, for they shall know the extravagant depth of eternity
  • Blessed are the teachers who wade through the waters of paperwork and the jungle of technology in order to reach the oasis of student contact, for they shall have the saints and angels at their backs
  • Blessed are the teachers who watch "Abbott Elementary" and find a little bit of themselves in every character, for they shall be humbled, amused and refreshed
  • Blessed are the teachers who try to walk around in the weary shoes of their students' parents, for their eyes will be opened and their spirits stretched
  • Blessed are the teachers who love, nurture and support their co-workers, for they shall find themselves doing the work of angels
  • Blessed are teachers whose "well-oiled" routines are complicated by CHANGE, for they shall ultimately grasp that bread and wine could be changed into the Body and Blood of Christ

The Brainpower Connection is a circle of support, influence and collegiality established in connection with seven different institutions, their faculties and students, to share their brainpower. A shared vision, shared faculties, and shared facilities help break down the walls that traditionally separate elementary schools, high schools and universities.