2010 Catholic Schools Week Supplement

Committee charged to find new Catholic education leader

Annette “Mickey” Lentz, executive director of the archdiocesan secretariat for Catholic education and faith formation, sits among the approximately 1,000 students from Catholic schools from across the archdiocese during a Catholic Schools Week Mass celebrated on Jan. 31, 2007, at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. (File photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

William Kuntz knows what it means to find a winner.

He found winners when he coached Roncalli High School’s first state championship football team in 1985.

And for nearly 25 years since then, Kuntz has worked in the business world, finding winning professionals to fill open positions for businesses across the country.

Still, when Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein asked Kuntz to be the chairperson of the committee charged to find the next executive director of the archdiocesan secretariat for Catholic education and faith formation, he was taken aback at the task put before him.

“My initial thought was, ‘This is a no-win job. How are you going to replace Mickey Lentz?’ What a challenge we have here,” said Kuntz, a member of St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis.

Annette “Mickey” Lentz, who has led the archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Education (OCE) for 13 years, announced last June that she would be stepping down from the position when she was named the new chancellor of the archdiocese.

During her time leading OCE, 24 schools in the archdiocese have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools, more than any other diocese in the country.

Lentz was principal of St. Mark School in Indianapolis in 1985 when it became the first school in the archdiocese to be so honored.

The current graduation rate at Catholic high schools in the archdiocese is 98 percent, with 97 percent of those graduates going on to college.

After considering this resumé of success, Kuntz took a different perspective on finding the next leader for OCE.

“What a great opportunity for someone because of Mickey Lentz,” he said. “It really is an attractive job, I believe, in part because of what Mickey has built—the people that she’s surrounded herself with at OCE, the processes that are in place.”

For her own part, Lentz sees a lot of importance in this search for the future of Catholic education and faith formation in central and southern Indiana.

“Education, at this time, is at many, many turning points,” she said. “There are just a lot of things that need to be considered in education, and in catechesis and faith formation. And it’s very important that we find a leader who can take us to the next level in these two areas.”

The timeline of the work of the search committee, according to Kuntz, will be to make recommendations of finalists to fill the position by mid-April.

It is hoped that the new executive director could begin work soon thereafter or by the start of July at the latest.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for those of us on the search committee,” Kuntz said. “And certainly it’s one that we’re all taking very seriously. We want to do a great job for the archdiocese.

“The talent and the passion that [the members] bring to the search committee position us to do the job well. We’re committed to do it to the very best of our ability.”

Part of that will be to cast a wide net for candidates.

“I think it’s very important that we find a person of vision and leadership who can take us to the next level of education and catechesis,” Lentz said. “I think it’s very important that they do a very thorough search, and that it be a national search.”

“I think there will be a large candidate pool because the job is very attractive,” Kuntz said. “It’s a very meaningful position. On the flip side, we’re looking for a 10. And there are not a lot of 10s in this world.”

As Kuntz reflected on finding a winning person to serve as executive director of OCE, his thoughts turned back to his experience as a football coach.

“We’re going to expect our new executive director to win Super Bowls in the world of education, just like Mickey has.” †