Mountain Lakes Parishioner Authors Book

Mountain Lakes parishioner’s book traces history of Catholic education

MOUNTAIN LAKES  Wayne Merckling, a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena here, wrote “The Crucifix, the Flag, and a Blackboard” not as a scholarly history of Catholic education in the United States. Instead, the retired pubic school principal penned it as a 116-page love letter of sorts to the faith-based and academically rigorous Catholic schooling that positively influenced his life and career and to all those educators who made it happen for him back in the 1950s and 1960s and continue to make it happen today.

“Its [the book’s] purpose is to trace the historical significance of Catholic education, to record the knowledge that it passes on, and, in particular, to honor all the men and woman who make so many contributions to the formation of Catholic youth in American over the course of four centuries,” writes Merckling, a product of Catholic education from the elementary grades up to college. “On a more personal note, this book is a consideration of how the efforts of my own teachers, professors and colleagues affect me both as an individual and as a professional. I hope to share this with both practicing and future teachers so that they will have a better understanding of the importance of the work that they do,” he writes.

“The Crucifix, the Flag, and a Blackboard” traces the development of Catholic education from its roots in Europe. Many religious communities brought this legacy to the United States, often during times of revolution, either political or religious, and at the request of bishops “who afforded the leadership required to build our vast education system of schools, colleges, seminarians and universities.”

After World War II, more Catholic schools were being built in the suburbs. Today, there are fewer Catholic elementary, high schools and colleges, which, in particular, have experienced high enrollments nonetheless. While fewer religious staff schools now, “their presence reminds student that there are choice in life: choices that involve how one lives, what one believes to be important and how happiness, religion and an occupation or vocation are connected.” Also, Catholic schools give students opportunities to work for social justice and enable some of them to discern a religious vocation, writes Merckling, who noted that technology provides educators with opportunities to offer distance learning for their students.

“The vocation of the Catholic educator is God’s call to the educator’s heart: a divine summons to devote one’s talents and energies to enable youth to understand their mission to continue building God’s kingdom,” said Pope Pius XII, as quoted by Merckling.

Merckling spends the last chapter getting personal, reflecting on the rewards of his own Catholic education. He attended Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal School and Christ the King High School, both in Queens, N.Y.; St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y.; and St. John’s University, also in Queens. He fondly remembers parochial school, attending Mass on Sunday, going to Confession and participating in the school fair.

Merckling earned a bachelor’s degree in math in 1973, a master’s degree in 1976, and a doctorate in education in 1999, all from St. John’s. Early on, he taught at St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, N.Y., before heading into public education. After a long career, he retired as principal of Kinnelon High School last year.

Merckling decided to research and write “The Crucifix, the Flag, and a Blackboard,” which grew from his interest in the subject of Catholic education, when he pursued his doctorate. Today, he carries the important lessons of his religious upbringing into his own life, assisting at Mass and with the altar server schedule at St. Catherine’s and volunteering at the “Book Barn” at St. Clare’s Hospital, Denville, and the Interfaith Food Pantry, Morris Plains. In part, Merckling wrote the book out of his concern for the future — and legacy — of Catholic education in the United States.

“As I researched their [lay Catholic teachers’] work, I could not help but be more concerned about the impact of the declining number of religious in America and the continuing trend of Catholic schools closing in many parts of our country,” Merckling writes. “The thought occurred to me that children and young adults would no longer experience Catholic education as I had. Most would never have the privilege of being taught by a sister, brother, priest or layperson in a Catholic Christian environment. My fear was that the legacy of those dedicated professionals and the founders of their order would be forever lost,” he writes.

[“The Crucifix, the Flag, and a Blackboard” can be found at Amazon.com.]