“SCHOOLS WILLING TO GET EXCITED”
The XIV Congress of Catholic Schools “Emociona” was held in Oviedo from November 16 to 18. On this occasion, the theme to work on was “communication and education”, understanding that everything communicates and that all communication arouses emotion.
In this event we are a group of work teams in the schools of Mª Inmaculada and López Vicuña of the province of Spain with the intention of learning, enjoying and getting excited with everything that will be contributed in the congress.
The experience has been great. The welcome at the Mª Inmaculada residence in Oviedo was first class, we were at home. Many thanks to the Oviedo community for their closeness and their willingness to make us comfortable.
The organization of the congress was exquisite, combining luxury speakers with exciting interactive music spaces.
Now that we are back, it is time to open the backpack and take out and organize everything we have brought from Oviedo. We have brought the reality of “Big Data”. This was relayed to us by Juan Verde from the USA, where he works on political campaigns. From this reality of Big Data we can “Transform the communication model, transform the experience of teachers and transform the experience of students”, building communication channels from the current technology that fascinates, as Monsignor Dario Viganò, prefect of the secretariat for communication of the Holy See, told us. “The difference between Catholic and non-Catholic schools is the ability to impassion from a passionate personality.” “The most credible thing about the Gospel is the fascination of contagion.” Let’s communicate, let’s be contagious and let’s get excited because we have the best message as Ana Guirao, from the communication team of Cáritas Española, shared with us. Pedro Aguado, Superior General of the Piarists and Asunción Codés, coordinator of the Company of St. Teresa of Jesus reinforced this in their communication “Go and proclaim”.
We have also brought with us the strength, good humor and good work of Gustavo Entrala, a Spaniard who created the Pope’s official Twitter account. Gustavo gave us the keys to the authenticity of communication based on Pope Francis’ keys to authenticity:
– Have a simple plan
– To be part of that plan (to believe it)
– Let the gestures, the facts lead to the plan.
– Be persistent in what you want to do
Without forgetting that to make a dream come true it is necessary to “Dream”, “Try”, “Timing”, “Empathy” and Persistence. All this sprinkled with a good dose of good humor and optimism as the best companions to a job well done.
From this same perspective of coherent, precise and exciting communication, Henry Jenkins from the University of California, Sergio García, Charo Sádaba, from Pamplona, Leoncio Fernández, Alan, Araceli, Nuria Pérez… gave us interesting ideas on the need to communicate from the networks, with planning and with a group in charge of it, being aware of what it means.
We ended the afternoon with Miren Josune García and Bernardo Moll, who talked about how to work with diverse people and how to manage what are, in principle, adverse realities. The teacher and Jan’s father (who appeared on stage captivating us all) transmitted to us the strength of working with those who “seem” the last and how the communication of a personal emotional situation well done is a source of health for the one who emits and for the one who receives the messages. Listening to them was exciting.
On Saturday, after the Eucharist, Javier Cebreiros, a young man, an expert in communication and emotions, transmitted to us an incredible strength and faith in the students and from whom we put in our backpack two phrases: “What do you think of yourself, of others, of life? This can be trained” and “I speak well of everyone, although there are people about whom I have nothing to say”. Undoubtedly, from the recognition and respect for others, for young people, we build a better school and a better society. This is something that the Marianist priest Daniel Pajuelo is committed to through the networks and especially through his YouTube channel, where he is committed to his option of “Living life learning the languages of men to tell them that God is looking for them to give them his love”. Daniel transmitted us the greatness of communicating through these channels with their “horrors”, he exposed them with total clarity and their “preciousness”. El Langui put the finishing touch to a congress that filled us with motivation, strength and task to continue working from our schools for young people, from our message to their reality using their channels. Now “Let’s get to work!” so that what we have carried in our backpacks will be noticed in our daily lives.
Jesús Barrientos González
Prof. CFP Mª Inmaculada de Pamplona
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