The Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas Spends a Day on the St. Stephen’s Campus to Experience a Day in the Life of Students

St. Stephen’s was recently honored to host the Rt. Rev. Kathryn “Kai” M. Ryan who serves as the chair of the St. Stephen’s Board of Trustees. During her day on campus, Bishop Ryan wanted to remain out of the spotlight, so she could immerse herself in the normal, daily experiences of Spartans.

“I have a lot of involvement with the board level leadership of the school, but I didn't have a deep knowledge of the students and what they experience in their day-to-day work here, and I wanted to develop those relationships with students, faculty and staff a little deeper so I can be a better advocate,” said Bishop Ryan.

 

Her time on The Hill started with breakfast connecting with the Chapel Liturgical Team, Wallis Goodman, dean of faculty, and Marsha Elliott, director of equity and inclusion—who helped set the stage for the day and answer questions before heading into the classrooms.

 

Bishop Ryan visited an 8th and 12th grade Theology class, a 12th grade English class, met with members of the Student Government, the Chapel Leadership team, and Proctors, and connected with the Unity Council—an Affinity Group composed of leadership faculty and Upper School students. Bishop Ryan also met with a select group of Middle School students and faculty.

She also attended both Middle School and Upper School chapel, during which she delivered a highly relatable and thought-provoking message—reflecting on her time as a student, and how she eventually landed on a career path.

“When I was in junior high, high school, even in college, I changed my mind about what it was I was going to do [with my life] many times,” said Bishop Ryan. “I thought maybe I would be a doctor, and so I took a lot of science classes in college, and I thought maybe I'd be a professor, because I'd gotten a philosophy degree…but what I knew from my younger years was where I felt most alive was sharing this [word of God], that what God wants for the world is that all people are equally loved and have the opportunity to thrive…and so I sensed that the way I could best use my gift kindly was to seek ordination in the Episcopal church.”

She told students that as they are figuring out what they want to do with their life—a better question to ask themselves first is: “Who are you going to be?” and taking it a step further, “What difference might you want to make with your one precious life?”

In closing, Bishop Ryan reinforced how good it felt to spend the day with St. Stephen’s students.

“When I hear you in your classes and see you having fun in between, during your break period encouraging each other and being playful, when you have those great insights, I see that you're growing into the people you're created to be,” said Bishop Ryan in Chapel. 

At the end of the day, Bishop Ryan said she was impressed by the level of deep engagement and preparation of the students.

 

“The teachers themselves are creative and deeply knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and their skills draw out of the students their own curiosity and their own efforts to articulate what they're learning and apply it.”

 

She also added that her hopes going into the visit, in terms of St. Stephen’s living out its Episcopal values in its day-to-day work, were confirmed.

 

“What I experienced today is that students work to make sure that everybody's welcome, regardless of where they come from, that the students take their own leadership seriously in ways that are gift giving to other students, and that the people who do their professions here, the administration and the teachers and the staff—that they're committed to the goodness of what we do here, so that we help grow up students as global citizens, as contributing people in our society.”