St. Kateri Tekawitha is a Catholic Elementary Parish School in Irondequoit, NY. Sister Kay Lurz, is Principal at St. Kateri. She has a special connection with each child. “Last school year we had a wavy blonde haired, blue eyed Kindergarten girl who came in the front door of school, walked in about halfway and stood stock still and said, ‘Where is the High Five Lady’? Avrie was not about to walk down the Kindergarten hallway until she had given me a high five. I got there just in time to give her a high five and a ‘Good Morning’.” This is the way Sister Kay begins each school morning. “It allows me to welcome each child, read their emotional status and interact with each. As the front doors are secured, the bell rings and we begin prayer together.” As Principal Sister Kay wears many hats that include the Spiritual, Professional and Managerial. She appreciates the many blessings her responsibilities bring. “Each day and month has its own identity and uniqueness and brings with it many ways that enable me to bring love, support, and energy to all the people who God puts into my life at that particular time.”
Sister Kay has a wonderful staff working with her including three other SSJs. Sisters Patricia McDermott, Patricia Trovato and Joanne Hasselwander have both been Catholic School educators for many years. At St. Kateri, Sister Patricia McDermott is an education technology coordinator, working directly with the students as they discover their way around computers. Sister Patricia Trovato is an Academic Intervention Services (AIS) teacher. Sister Joanne helps out with school programs. “Serving as a lunch monitor at St. Kateri School and working with their afterschool care program affords me the opportunity to be kind, loving and joyful with the young children who know I am a Sister of Saint Joseph,” says Sister Joanne. “I love each one of them.”