Ready or not, the new school year is here. Most of the 43 Catholic grade schools, all six Catholic high schools and the majority of public and private schools in the Springfield diocese are already open for the new school year. The hopes and prayers of so many people go out to the students, teachers, school administrators and staff, and families of everyone involved in the educational system. Their success is our success. They are our future. They need our support and our prayers.

The start of a new school year sparks lots of memories for many people, whether it is from their own schooling experience, involvement in the educational process, or from the perspective of a parent. When adults look back at their own school days, it is easy to recognize them as a right of passage from childhood to adulthood.

Times have changed. Schools have changed. Technology has brought about many things that people even a generation or two ago might never have even imagined.

Many people at this time of year can be heard lamenting, "Where did the summer go?" Though temperatures in central Illinois normally this time of year remain in summer mode, school calendars have changed. Few schools today wait until after Labor Day to begin the new school year, and nearly all secondary and elementary schools in Illinois, both public and private, strive to end the academic year by Memorial Day.

Gone are the good old days when Catholic school students got off on holy days of obligation, the parish patron saint's feast day, the feast day of the founder of the religious order that taught at the school or served the parish, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday. Nowadays, both private and public schools  have a Christmas (winter) vacation - once just a little over a week long - that is now two full weeks or more. Easter (spring) break is another full week.

Anyone who follows the news or listens to commentary about education swirling around as part of the upcoming presidential election coverage recognizes the educational system in the United States is facing challenges. But Catholic schools have always faced challenges. They have had to be resourceful and develop an innovative and creative approach in order to survive.

Education begins at home. Parents have always played  an intrinsic part in their children's learning process. Now, sometimes, children are teaching their parents and thinking globally long before their adult counterparts. The start of a new school year is a wonderful time to look for new opportunities to learn.

While our young people are beginning the new school year, parents might consider classes offered at various parishes throughout the diocese. Or, consider joining the Why Catholic? program at your parish.