New high school leader
a man on a mission

Brother Ed Howe, 41, grew up in Our Lady of Victory parish on the Northwest Side and graduated from Gordon Tech High School in 1982, and later worked there as a counselor, technology director and coach. A member of the Congregation of the Resurrection, which sponsors the school, Howe is a licensed clinical social worker with experience ranging from community organizing to technology planning. Now he has returned to his alma mater as president. In that role, Howe will help set the agenda to move the school forward. He was tapped for the job barely a month before school started this year, leaving a position producing television and radio programs for the archdiocese.

In all of his roles, he said, there is a common mission: evangelization. He talked with Catholic New World staff writer Michelle Martin.


The Catholic New World: What was your first day as president like, compared to your first day as a freshman at Gordon Tech?

Brother Ed Howe: I talked to the freshman class on their first day here. I said, ‘You know, in 1978, I sat where you’re sitting right now. I felt nervous, then I noticed the nervousness went away. I hope it will go away for you very soon also, and you will be able to participate in everything that’s going on in the school because it’s an exciting place.’ I think they were focused on what I was talking about.

I also talked with the faculty on the first day—some being my former teachers who are still here. We talked about the challenge: in order to carry out the mission of Catholic education, a person really needs to be in touch with their faith. That’s very, very important. That’s my focus: we all work together on that mission in whatever we’re doing. Faith has to be strong, or it’s not going to go out to the kids.


TCNW: What is the mission of Catholic education?

BEH: The mission of Catholic education is evangelization. It flows out of what happens in Catholic marriage. There’s a need for the parents to bring up their children in the Catholic faith, and the Catholic schools assist with that.

Unfortunately cost has made that difficult in many cases, so that’s a real challenge. That’s one thing the [Office for Catholic Schools] is focusing on right now with the Genesis initiative.


TCNW: How do you hope to help Gordon Tech fulfill that mission?

BEH: From day one, I have mentioned to everyone that faith is at the core of what we do. This school would not exist if it wasn’t because of faith. Without faith, this would be a public school. Our faith is what drives us to do what we do here. For me, what I bring to Gordon Tech is this mix. I went to school here. I worked here for 10 years, I coached soccer, in 1996 and 1997, I was involved in building up the school’s first [computer] network. The blending of things—a counselor and social worker, a soccer coach, a teacher, working on technology—I think is the reason I’m being called here right now. The mix is giving me that ability to lead this school.


TCNW: How do you relate technology to faith?

BEH: Without faith, technology means nothing to us in Catholic education. Technology is the means by which we achieve the result of evangelization, social communication and building up communities and so many other things. It’s all about the discovery of creation.

In science, with today’s technology we’re able to learn more about creation. Unfortunately, technology can go the wrong way, in terms of embryonic stem cells and other cloning kinds of things, but in other ways, technology can give us the ability to learn more about God’s creation because we have the tools to help us go deeper into it.


TCNW: How is the school the same as when you were a student? How is it different?

BEH: In that age, everything was focused on technical prep: wood shop, auto shop, electrical shop, welding, metal shop, all those kinds of things. Those were really hands-on things, and I had all of that stuff. Now the computer comes in and assists with precision in all of those areas.

But there are so many other things. Right now the big thing is the wireless laptop lab. The infrastructure here is incredible. We have a fiber optic backbone for the network running through the school. That was an investment that took place around 1997, and it’s been kept up to date. As we add wireless stuff, it’s easier to tap into that.

The thing that’s always impressed me about the school is that it has tons of equipment for kids to use—the auto shop, the TV studio. There’s so many hands-on things that kids can get involved in. It’s not teaching out of a book. That’s always been the strength of Gordon Tech. Now in the computer area, those labs have become computer-assisted.


TCNW: You didn’t mention that it’s coed now.

BEH: I didn’t mean not to. It is definitely coed now. This is the first year it’s been completely coed. The last four years have been transitional. This may sound weird, but I don’t even think of it as not coed anymore.

Now a lot of things are energized that you need girls for. When it’s an all-boys school, there are certain things that are at one end of the spectrum of life. When it’s mixed, it’s much more of a balance. Extracurriculars—and academics and other areas—are much more enthused. There’s so much more school participation. The boys and girls get together and participate together. Before, when we had a dance, you’d have to invite the girls over. Now, if we have a dance, the girls are here.

There are schools out there that would disagree. Notre Dame for Girls is very solid on remaining an all-girls’ school, and there are all-boys’ schools that are very solid on remaining all boys. I think those are necessary too.


TCNW: Why was it important for this school to be coed?

BEH: This school has so much to offer in terms of technology. That’s something we want to see offered to girls, not just boys. Girls are so much interested in technology as well. We have Lane Tech across the river, and it’s coed—but it’s public.

TCNW: How were you approached about taking this position, after working two years for the archdiocese?

BEH: I was asked strongly. They knew my experience here before. I know the place. I worked here for 11 or 12 years in the past. I went to school here. I had very good rapport with the faculty and staff here. Some of the students when I left are still here, but most have already graduated. Because this is a school that prides itself on technology, my background in technology was seen as a plus.


TCNW: How much notice did you have?

BEH: About a month. The timing was a little quick, but I guess I was in the back of people’s minds for a while. I didn’t expect it to happen, at least right now. I felt like I won the lottery, quite honestly, because it was a familiar place. I will miss my work with the archdiocese and wish I could have been there another five years or more. I had a excellent experience that I am totally grateful to Cardinal George for. I said to Cardinal George that I had listened to everything he’s said over the last five years, because we were recording it, and I said, “What you said changed my life, because it gave me a perspective, a wider look at the church, that I didn’t have before.” I received that vision through Cardinal George. He gave me a blessing before I left, which I was thankful for.

I hope to get back into radio and TV, maybe at some other point in time. I love it—the evangelization that takes place there, and the teamwork.

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