By: Jay Sorgi
It may be impossible to quantify the number of children whose lives Katie Murphy and Sonia Simril have touched in more than eight combined decades of Catholic education.
At least thousands have felt the impact of Murphy, a 48-year veteran of Catholic education who calls herself “semi-retired” while consulting for Corpus Christi School in Piedmont, and Simril, the current principal of Saint Leo the Great Catholic School in Oakland.
That’s why Murphy and Simril have received the Diocesan Medal of Merit, bestowed by Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ to honor their lifelong service to the Catholic faith.
“My very first year in education was at Saint Cornelius in Richmond. I walked into the classroom of about 38 third-graders and fell in love with them. I just love what I did,” said Murphy, who spent 32 of her 33 years at Corpus Christi School as a principal.
“I love bringing faith into academia, which is something you can’t do in a public school. I wanted my students to be happy. I wanted them because I knew if they were happy, they could do anything.”
“The students are the primary reason that I continue to return. They bring joy and hope to my life each and every day, and the parents as well,” says Simril, who like Murphy has spent 34 years in Oakland Catholic Schools.
“It’s not about me. But that’s why I continue to stay. I’m rejuvenated now. I feel like I’ve been given a shot of energy and youthfulness. It’s been great. It’s such a blessing.”
“You’re also doing a good job,” Murphy chimes in, eliciting a laugh of recognition from her longtime friend in Catholic educational mission.
“We meet and we’re collaborative and collegial with each other. And having that support system outside of the school, it does make a difference,” Simril shares.
Their boss proudly confirms each teacher’s excellence.
“Both of our principals here being honored have built cultures of excellence. It’s so clear when you visit these schools,” says Oakland Catholic Schools Superintendent Andrew Currier.
He cited how Simril and Murphy each have found a proper balance fusing technology and traditional education, while each principal has built a culture that meets their students’ particular needs.
“When you visit St. Leo the Great, you can tell the students show deference to their teachers and principal to outside people visiting. They’re very respectful. It’s an extremely well-ordered school, and that is an old school kind of approach that we need to get back to in Catholic education, which is order creates discipline and safety, and our students need that more and more these days,” Currier says.
“When you visit Corpus Christi, you also feel and see that you are visiting one of the nation’s top schools. It’s in the culture. It’s in the air. You can see it on the wall. You can feel it when you see recess, the kids at play. This place is special. It’s a culture of excellence.”
That culture of excellence has helped form not only strong Catholics and solid citizens, but also bonds with their schools that lead Murphy and Simril to lifelong relationships with former students with powerful encounters in meaningful settings.
Some of them invite both Murphy and Simril to their weddings, while others regularly see former students because their own kids are taught by Murphy and Simril’s teachers.
“I think today we have maybe 10 or 12 families that have their parents or either students that I taught as their principal. And to see those generations return later, it also empowers me as well,” said Murphy.
“When you walk into these weddings and you see these children that were once children, they’re adults now, and I ask them, ‘Why do you invite me?’” said Simril. “They say it all began at St. Leo’s.”
Those experiences remind both Simril and Murphy of how each child they teach wears God’s face, and continues to reflect a sacred presence far beyond the time they spent in the classrooms Murphy and Simril help lead.
“Watching the faces every day of those children and seeing them as young adults and older adults now, seeing the parents still involved in helping places, that gives me my greatest reward every single day, and I wouldn’t trade that,” says Murphy, a past winner of the National Catholic Educational Association Principal of the Year award.
“It was worth whatever happened in 50 years that was difficult or exhausting. It fills all those holes with love.”
“I live by our school motto, to do your best and let God do the rest,” Simril says to capstone it all.
“You can look at this and see the work of God. There was a reason I had to stay. Look at it now. And I say, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’”