“What is Fulcrum?”
I posed this question at the annual Celebration of Light to a packed room of educators, administrators, donors, and friends, gathered in the soft glow of the Sheraton Grand ballroom.
It’s a question I’ve been asked many times since I started at Fulcrum and began my listening tour. Before the Celebration of Light, I had a couple of answers.
What is Fulcrum?
Fulcrum is the powerful lever that sustains Catholic schools.
Fulcrum is both the conduit and the fuel for accessible, life-changing Catholic education.
Both these answers are true. However, after experiencing the Celebration of Light, after witnessing twelve hundred people come together in support of our cause and the cause of Catholic education, I have a new answer.
What is Fulcrum?
Fulcrum is a music teacher who answers God’s call for her time and talent by sharing her gifts with eight Catholic schools in the archdiocese.
Fulcrum is a principal who utilizes her Leadership Academy skills to take a shrinking Catholic school and turn it into a thriving center for bilingual education rooted in faith.
Fulcrum is the donors who answer the call selflessly, lighting the way for Catholic students and families are who are unable to make this journey alone.
Fulcrum is twelve hundred men and women of all backgrounds, gathered together from across the Archdiocese of Seattle, and bonded in the singular belief that Catholic education changes hearts, minds, and lives.
In his speech during the gala, Archbishop Etienne challenged all of us to “live our faith.” Everywhere I looked that night, I saw our educators, supporters, and staff meeting that challenge—giving to Fulcrum’s vital programs with full hearts so that students and families they have never even met will have the opportunity to receive an excellent and faith-filled education.
This was my first Celebration of Light. And yet, as I walked through the doors and found myself awash in a sea of smiling faces, I was not a stranger.
This was a family and I was finally coming home. This is our community. This is the far-reaching effect of Catholic education. This is the impact of Fulcrum.
So, I ask one, final time:
What is Fulcrum?
Fulcrum is all of us.
(A Reflection by Vivian Shannon, Executive Director)