The Valley Catholic May 23, 2017 | Page 6

Tech Academy Launches CORAL STEM Student Success
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COMMUNITY
May 23 , 2017 | The Valley Catholic

Wendy Scherbart Retiring After Many Years of Service to Diocese of San Jose

By Liz Sullivan
Simply put , Wendy Scherbart did not want to make the commute alone .
For many years , Scherbart , the Director of Catechetical Ministry for the Diocese of San Jose , has commuted to work with her husband , Jon , who is a religion teacher down the road at Bellarmine College Prep , from their home in Morgan Hill . Jon Scherbart is retiring in June after 36 years of teaching and his wife has decided to join him .
Wendy Scherbart ’ s last day as director is June 8 .
“ I want to continue this journey together with him ,” she said .
Scherbart has served in her current position since August , 2004 , when she replaced Jeannine Leichner , who had retired . Prior to working at the Chancery , Scherbart spent 10 years as the Director of Catechetical Ministry for Saint Catherine of Alexandria and 10 years before that in the same position at Saint Patrick Parish , now Our Lady of La Vang . Scherbart , who has a Master ’ s degree in catechetics from Santa Clara University , began her career as
an elementary teacher at Saint Patrick School .
“ While we will greatly miss Wendy at the helm of Catechetics , I am pleased that she and her husband , Jon , will be able to enter retirement while in good health and with so much energy ,” said Bishop Patrick J . McGrath . “ I know I speak for many – including our pastors and our catechists – in giving thanks to the Lord for the gift that Wendy has been for us , for our Diocese and for the Church these many years .”
On May 9 , Scherbart was awarded the Sister Maria De La Cruz Aymes , SH , Award for Excellence in Catechetical Ministry at the Saint Pius X Banquet . In her acceptance speech Scherbart described herself as Dorothy from “ The Wizard of Oz .”
“ I feel like Dorothy who has walked the Yellow Brick Road and it is time for me to go home ,” she said at the event . “ I realize you are never alone on this journey . It is easy to do this ministry because you ( the assembled catechetical ministers ) are with me .”
As she prepares to leave her office , Scherbart said she has been thinking about what she and her department
On May 9 , Scherbart was awarded the Sister Maria De La Cruz Aymes , SH , Award for Excellence in Catechetical Ministry at the Saint Pius X Banquet .
have accomplished over the last 13 years .
“ It is gratifying because we focused on the goals we wanted to achieve and I feel we moved them forward ,” she said . “ Now it is time for the larger
goals to be carried on by someone else . The challenges are still there and they need to be addressed . I feel I have helped to raise the awareness of our ministry .”
The Diocese recently restructured the Office for Parish Services ( OPS ) and renamed it the Department for Evangelization , under which the Department for Catechetical Ministry falls under . The new department is led by Father John Hurley , CSP . This new department will have a greater focus on Word , Worship and Witness , which are a guiding principle for forming disciples of Jesus Christ , changing the world and inspiring others to do the same .
“ I am definitely encouraged by what is being done ,” she said . “ The focus is on evangelizing catechesis .”
After years of living by a schedule , Scherbart admitted she has nothing planned for her retirement ; right now . Her daughter Krista is returning to the Bay Area soon after spending the last three years on the East Coast .
“ I am excited for all of the possibilities that lay ahead for me ,” said Scherbart .

Tech Academy Launches CORAL STEM Student Success

In addition to designing their project , CORAL STEM students also get their hands working on some carpentry .
In an English language arts lesson , Marisol B . introduced a research problem to her students : animals in different parts of the world are becoming extinct and cannot migrate . Their task ? To create a device that can transport the animals safely from one terrain to the next so that they can mate and aren ’ t endangered anymore . Marisol assigned each group an animal and took them to the library where the librarian taught them how to research and find information . With new knowledge , students developed designs during the CORAL afterschool program in preparation for the Tech Museum ’ s April Tech Challenge .
CORAL ( Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning ) is a K-8 expanded learning program that focuses on improving academic achievement through literacy and homework support ; CORAL STEM focuses on science , technology , engineering , and math . Marisol , CORAL STEM site manager for Dahl Elementary School , implements creative lesson plans to prepare her students for the Tech Challenge . Hosted by the Tech Museum for Innovation , the academic competition presents an engineering challenge to fourth- through twelfth-graders to develop a solution to a real-world problem .
This year ’ s challenge was to design a remote-controlled device that will cross over a gap that is 18 inches wide , and then a second gap that has an incline , all within four minutes . Groups of fourth and fifth graders from the CORAL STEM program presented their final device designs on Saturday , April 29 , to a cheering audience that applauded their creativity .
To learn more about Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County ’ s CORAL STEM program , please visit ht t p :// catholiccharitiesscc . org / coral-afterschool-program .