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WEIRTON -- Madonna High School held its inaugural "Getting at the soul of Madonna" mini conference on Sunday, and among the activities was the unveiling of the new brand designed to get the entire staff on the same page.
That brand, as it was called school officials, is "followers of Christ … leaders in the world."
"This is a profession development day for the entire staff of Madonna High School," Madonna principal Jamie Lesho said. "The coaches, teachers, staff members, everybody. Administration, they're all here to go over our new brand. The whole idea is to get everybody, coaches and teachers, all on the same page of what Madonna is about and what we are going to introduce to our community and to our kids.
"I think (Sunday) is important because when you have a lot of different parts going on in a school system, having them all on the same page and everyone following our guidelines and understanding what we are all about (makes a difference). Having all the teachers, coaches and staff all on the same page when someone asks them why they are at Madonna, they are going to be able to give that answer. They're making leaders out of our students."
Reverend Dennis Schuelkens pointed at that while a new brand, it goes back to the roots of the school.
"It's a fundamental that now can be summed up in our focus now, our brand -- followers of Christ, leaders in the world. We're not changing the mission of Madonna, we're just unfolding its roots. This is why this institution started -- to cultivate followers of Christ to then be leaders in the world."
One of the highlights of the event was a message from guest keynote speaker coach Bruce Scifres, a retired seven-time Indiana high school football champion coach and 12-time Indiana coach of the year winner that will be inducted into the Indiana football Hall of Fame later this month.
Scifres delivered his "Coaching for Christ" message to about 60 teachers, coaches and staff members inside the Bill Barrett Gymnasium. Madonna campus minister, teacher and guidance counselor Amy Granato saw Scifres speak and made it a priority to have him be a part of Sunday's event.
"I was blessed to be able to speak at a catholic school conference in Kansas City and Amy Granato was attending," Scifres said. "A few weeks later she contacted me about coming here and being the keynote speaker. It's an awesome experience anytime you have a chance to speak and spend time with folks and deliver a message that is meaningful to them.
"You hope that something you say resonates with them. To have someone from another presentation invite you to come speak at their school, it makes your heart happy to feel like you touched someone's heart. It's quite an honor to be here."
The focus of his message Sunday was the opportunity the staff has to influence the students.
"The primary message is that as teachers, as educators, as mentors and as coaches, we have a unique platform to change lives. At a catholic school like Weirton Madonna, their primary task is to help the young people they serve get to heaven. They have a wonderful opportunity to do that each day. That's the focus, the opportunity to change lives and make a difference."
According to Lesho, Sunday's event has been in the works since late 2017.
"Countless hours have gone into this," he said. "Amy Granato, Mike Arlia (athletic director) and Sharon Higgins took this idea over Christmas break and just kind of took it and ran with it. I have to give a lot of credit to Amy and Mike for really spearheading this and really going after making it happen. We're really focused on bringing Christ into the center of everything."