The Catholic School Leaders Podcast

Darrell Fulford
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[00:00:00]

Welcome to the Catholic School Leaders Podcast. My name is John Mahalio, your host, and today we're going to be talking about Catholic culture. The question I ask is, is your school a Catholic school or a private school? Our Catholic identity and Catholic culture is something that needs to be seen near and far by everyone.

A Catholic school goes beyond just weekly mass and a school community doing an occasional bring a dollar and get a dress down day. If we're truly Catholic schools, we have to have that Catholic culture present each and every day in everything that we do. As the leader of the Catholic School, it's our mission and vocation to lead these efforts in our school each and every day.

Today my guest is Daryl Fulford, Principal of St. Thomas More in Chapel Hill. Originally from Tampa, Mr. Fulford graduated from the University of South Florida with a BA in International Studies. He continued his education coursework at [00:01:00] Florida Gulf Coast University through the Teacher Immersion Program.

Mr. Fulford earned his Master's in Administration and Supervision. through the Catholic School Leadership Program at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. He's worked as both a bilingual paraprofessional for the ESL programs, as well as an assistant teacher for the reading program. And he went on to teach Spanish, theology, and world cultures at St.

John Newman Catholic High School in Naples. He served as a principal of St. Andrew Catholic School in Coral Springs, Florida, before returning home to the Tampa area, where he became the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Florida. In 2017, he joined the St. Thomas More Catholic School staff.

as their principal. He grew up speaking both Spanish and English. His family includes his wife, Maria, and four beautiful children. And if you take their first names and put them together, they spell the word Amen, which is quite a blessing. So, Daryl, welcome to the podcast!

Thank you, John. Thank you. That was a great introduction.

Ah, [00:02:00] you deserve it, man. So, something I gotta tell you, your story, when we talk about Catholic culture, your story is one that's not only how you became a Catholic school principal, but also a Catholic is something that's really, really inspiring. Can you share with our listeners not only your journey, but the influence of Catholic education and the faith it had on you as you were growing up?

Of course, John. , my story begins a little, um, less traditional and to, in my entrance into the Catholic faith and the Catholic church. I grew up without really a strong faith formation within my home life. And, um, coming up as a child, , we weren't really based in any particular church. I grew up as a child of divorce, single mother.

And, uh, with that many moves to different places and schools within the Tampa Bay area. Until I was about 12 years old, I had an opportunity to attend a summer camp in Tampa run by the Salesians at Merry Help of Christians. And through that summer camp experience and working with the Salesian sisters and brothers, that's where I got my first, I call it a desire or thirst, uh, for the [00:03:00] Catholic Church.

Since that time, I, I continued with trying to find all the available resources that I could to learn about Catholicism in the church. When I got my driver's license at 16, I was able to get myself down to the Catholic Church in downtown Tampa, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and, um, I still remember today walking in around noontime, there was confessions, entering the confessional and seeing Father Paul Osterly and saying, Hey, I'm not Catholic, but I'd like to be.

And he politely said, It's, lunchtime, the police department's next door, we have a huge line of confessions, but come back Tuesday night at 7 and we can talk. And so from that Tuesday night at 7 when I returned, um, I was able to do one on one catechesis, uh, with Father Paul. And, um, I was officially brought into the church in 2001.

Where I became, uh, a Catholic. And so, 23 years later now, 18 years of marriage. We're this year, we're celebrating our oldest confirmation this May and our youngest First Communion. Sure.

[00:04:00] Congratulations. That's awesome. And I think that's the thing right there is, is the Catholic faith is something that's very near and dear to your heart. Obviously a lot of sacrifices go into, not only, becoming Catholic, but, but to, to provide that Catholic education and that Catholic, Can you talk a little bit about that and that influence in your life?

Obviously since becoming Catholic, it was, it was core to who I was. And, um, I was finishing my undergrad degree at the University of South Florida International Studies. You know, I had this big aim to change the world and impact, you know, have a global impact. And while I was in school, I was working in the role of bilingual paraprofessional and ESL programs and reading programs in the public school system in Hillsborough County.

And it was through that exposure and experience I realized that, you know, you could have a huge impact through education and through working with students and children. And so I married my desire for the Catholic Church, , with the education that I had, , fallen in love with, and merged [00:05:00] that to teach at St.

John Newman High School. And so that's where I began, with this desire to work and dedicate myself to Catholic education.

That's awesome. And I think, you know, you and I have talked in terms of wanting to make sure that our, our schools are authentically Catholic and not just Catholic in name only, how do you find ways to incorporate the Catholic faith into the many aspects of your school? Because obviously there's a lot going on each and every day.

, there's, you know, 4, 329 things to do, and that's just before 9 o'clock on Monday morning. So, how do you find ways to incorporate the faith into your Catholic school on a day to day basis?

So I think before, um, you know, I like to think of a metaphor of like sprinkles on a cupcake. I think before we think of things, which I correlate to like sprinkles, you really have to make sure you have a solid foundation and so I think as Catholic school leaders, you really have to have a clear definition of who we are, and that has to be known to all stakeholders.

Right? And so I think it's key to develop and understand the mission and vision of your [00:06:00] particular school and Catholic education. You know, it's very easy to allow others to define who we are. You know, when people are applying to our schools, you know, it's important to say like, what is attracting you to apply to our particular school?

What does our school offer? You know, what are you interested in from our school? And just ensure that it's all in alignment with who we are and what we do. I think this helps a lot with taking away the unnecessary conflict that eventually comes with maybe stakeholders or parents or families who. had a misunderstanding of who we are, what we offer.

, and so going to our Catholic identity, you know, our foundation is firm in an unwavering commitment to Jesus and the church. I believe in, it's important to meet people where they're at. Just like I was met by the Salesians at the summer camp, you know, we have to meet people from where they're coming from, um, and use it as a tool for evangelization, you know, when people say, who are we, um, we're a Catholic school and we're looking to, , allow and assist children in building their lifelong relationship with Jesus, you know, and, [00:07:00] and then now on top of that found that firm foundation of that relationship with Jesus, we offer those exposures to the church, like, monthly adoration opportunities for all grade levels, our weekly masses, our reconciliation opportunities throughout the school year, the presence of our priests within the school building, making sure we celebrate different, church, celebrations and high feast days within the school and making it, , an opportunity of exposure for the students within the Catholic Trinity.

And I think that's important too. You mentioned, you know, when, when somebody applies to the school kind of saying, Hey, this is, this is who we are, this is what we're all about. And I think that creates a real opportunity to engage them and get them excited about the prospects of joining your, school and hopefully your parish community as well. So, obviously as, as a, as a school leader, we have that vision for, for what our school looks like. But our, our faculty needs to have that buy in as well. How, how have you found ways to nurture your faculty in their faith, which then allows them to nurture their [00:08:00] students in their faith?

Sure. this is a big challenge for those who are in Catholic school leadership and I think it really is about accountability to oneself. it really makes me accountable to my own faith formation because I feel like I'm answering that question. One of the main things that I do is model, uh, model what it looks like to have a strong relationship with Jesus and live out our vocation in Catholic education.

But with that comes a lot of vulnerability and humility When I talk about meeting people where they're at, when I speak to my faculty and staff, I'm very honest and share with them my struggles in faith, right? And my, maybe, mishaps where, hey, I'm a little weak in my relationship of prayer, you know, this month, uh, help, let, let's, let's focus in getting this together.

And, and I use them as part of the, collaborative effort in ensuring our Catholic identity is strong. , I also think that it's important for us, it's okay to remind people, like remind the teachers and our staff, You know, of their call and that the importance of this vocation [00:09:00] and the great responsibility of forming Children, right?

So we are in front of Children, potentially, you know, exciting them for Jesus or turning them off to Jesus. And I think that's a huge responsibility that we forget about. And so a lot of times I talked to the faculty and staff about, what we are fed. We will feed the kids. You know, light gives light, right?

Darkness gives darkness, so if we're filling ourselves with so many things of the world, when our kids need us, we are going to unintentionally give them things of the world. When we're filling ourselves with Christ, we are going to intentionally and unintentionally give them things of Christ. And so I think that's an important, personal thing that we in this vocation have to do.

Yeah, and I think that's a, that's a, uh, what you say there is, is absolutely true, because we, we can't give something that we don't have. And, if we're hungry for something, and, and we can't give others that, that, that which we don't have. And so I think filling their cups with the faith component of things.

Just allows them to, to translate that back to their students.

And to credit John, um, and just, just real [00:10:00] quick, I want to credit, like, the faculty and staff at St. Thomas More, for example, about this Giving Light. You know, since the pandemic, we had an influx of students into our school, and many non Catholics. And since that time, we've, received 15 students into the Catholic faith.

And it was through those examples and modeling that our teachers did in the classrooms that evangelize, like evangelization is real. I think that's an important thing to

Absolutely. That's truly something to be celebrated. So, kudos to you and your, and your faculty on that one. Great stuff on that. Now you, you mentioned about, uh, you know, having, having your priest and having your pastor, active within the school.

How do you work with your parish to ensure there's an active partnership between the school and the parish community? Because, that's really important. One feeds the other. So how do you promote that, healthy partnership between the two?

Yeah, I think it's important to recognize our role as Catholic school principals as being a liaison to the parish community. So I take it as my primary responsibility to be that liaison and communication and representation [00:11:00] of our school at all of our parish, meetings and opportunities and things that are happening.

So, you know, it starts with the main communication. I have official weekly communication with our pastor, Father Scott McHugh. Um, he's available at all other times, for check ins. have a strong relationship with our parish administrator, Carlos Lima, , within the finances and the facilities involvement.

But further than that, the relationships really built through my presence at the pastoral council meetings, this parish, finance council meetings. Our school advisory board has intentionally faith development representatives. on the school advisory board so that we can bridge faith development and the school.

Also on our pastoral council and finance councils at the parish, we have school advisory board members who are also present at those meetings so we have a cross reference of vision and mission ensuring that we're on in line. With that. Additionally, it's all about being present within the parish community.

So, our school has, um, [00:12:00] two minimum masses per year that are school led masses, that, you know, our students come in uniform and they lead, liturgically the masses on a Sunday or a Saturday vigil to show, ourselves and, and, and showcase ourselves to the greater parish community.

That's awesome. That's all. And I think that's what creates that true partnership and creates a parish community, because it's not just the school, it's not just the parish, it's not just, you know, it's a, it's a parish community, so that's a, that's a great thing to see.

One thing I want to add is, you know, yes, being present, but as you build that relationship, it opens up a natural, avenue for faculty and staff to go and want to volunteer at the parish for Vacation Bible School or Sunday Faith, development.

So we've got a lot of crossover between our staff. In supporting the school in the parish,

and there's nothing, no bigger rock star than when the kids at the school see one of their teachers or their principal or something at a parish event. They go, oh look, Mr. Fulford's working the fish fry this week, or whatever the case might be.[00:13:00] You will have no bigger rock star than, uh, than that, member of your faculty doing something within the parish community and the kids seeing them, so I couldn't agree more on that one.

What are some of the biggest challenges right now that you think principals face as in the vocation as leaders of our school? And I guess how have you dealt with them to keep the Catholic faith at the heart of everything that you're doing?

Sure. I think school principals in general and Catholic school principals as well. , it's really balancing, your stakeholders opinions. You know, everybody's got an opinion. Everybody feels that, things should happen, um, a certain way. I think it's acknowledging that you cannot do this alone. In order to be an effective school leader and effective Catholic school principal, you have to come at it from a collaborative leadership approach.

And so, I think in doing that. You know, I personally have done that through a leadership team within the school, identifying teachers who could come up and be part of this leadership team that represent a diverse perspective across the school, but are [00:14:00] also either parents themselves or have, you know, been here 20 years or been here five years.

It doesn't matter. It's a lot of perspective that's brought to the table when making decisions. I think that you need to capture your, parent stakeholders as well through surveys or through your parent organization or school advisory board representatives and just taking all of that diverse perspective and acknowledging in a humble way that you do not know at all.

I taught high school, you know, as you mentioned at St. John Newman. Uh, the 20 years is going to have a better perspective on literacy. You know, literacy approach than I would, and I need to take in that approach. I'm attacking it, but going from the Catholic perspective, you know, historical perspective is important.

You have to listen to where we've been, to know where we're going and, um, really strategically plan with that Catholic identity lens from a diverse perspective.

Yeah, and I think bringing in different members of your community to help you with that input, to help you navigate those waters, but then that also creates buy in within your community,[00:15:00] , which then will just spread out like wildfire, hopefully, in a positive way.

Exactly. And, um, as I was thinking over this, interview and praying about it, something comes, it's like you begin and end with prayer and you pray along the way. Prayer is key. Prayer is key.

That's exactly right. Well, Darrell, I can't thank you enough for your time today. I want to thank you for your work at St. Thomas More, and I just wish you the best of luck moving forward in the school year, and what's ahead for you.

Well, thank you very much, Sean. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today.

All right.