By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
FARMERS BRANCH — Before a child opens a textbook, walks down a school hallway, or puts pencil to paper in a classroom, she has already received an education in the important lessons of life from a woman, said Sister Sandra Helton, SSND, as she welcomed more than 300 registered attendees to the 14th annual Women’s Leadership Luncheon at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch on March 25.
“Women have always been educators, not only by profession but by presence. They teach us through the way they nurture, the way they lead, the way they rise, and the way they love,” said the sister, who is provincial councilor for the School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province. “Every one of us in this room carries a story shaped by a woman who taught us something essential — how to hold, how to persevere, how to dream, and how to lead.”
Hosted annually by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the Women’s Leadership Luncheon celebrates the impact of women who are creating meaningful change in their communities and in the world.
This year’s gathering, which centered on the theme “Women as Educators in All We Are and Do,” featured local leaders in education Caroline O’Brien, president of Notre Dame of Dallas Schools, and Lydia Torrez, advancement consultant for St. Cecilia Catholic Church and School, who both pulled from their decades of leadership in education during a panel discussion about women as educators.
“The person who gave me the most meaning, the person who I truly modeled, the person who was at my side from the beginning was my mother,” Torrez said during the discussion, reflecting Sister Sandra’s opening words. “She is the one who helped to shape and form me as a teacher.”
Torrez, who has spent more than 45 years in education, has served in Dallas Independent School District and Diocese of Dallas schools, including as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of development, and school president. Over her years in education, she has been honored with several accolades for her service to communities in North Texas.
“I made that decision that education was where I needed to be, because that’s where I could serve; that’s where I could help to inspire; that’s where I could teach; that’s where I was going to use all the gifts that the good Lord had given to me to bring forth this new generation,” Torrez said during the luncheon, “and so looking back, I appreciate all of those moments, beginning at my mother’s side, that led me into the classroom.”
As a longtime educator, Torrez has had many opportunities to touch the hearts and minds of young people; but schooling, she emphasized, goes far beyond the classroom or even the childhood home. Women can be educators in their churches, in their workplaces, and in any community in which they participate.
“You don’t have to be in formal education to be an educator,” Torrez said. “Every time you walk out into that big, beautiful world that we live in … no matter what you are doing, you are serving; you are teaching; you are a model.”
“We are all educators,” O’Brien said, echoing this sentiment. An SSND associate, O’Brien boasts more than 30 years serving as an education professional, including through her work as executive director of Catch Up & Read, a non-profit North Texas reading interventional program. Since 2021, she has served as the first president of Notre Dame of Dallas Schools, which educates students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Speaking to those gathered at the luncheon, O’Brien offered the School Sisters of Notre Dame as a model of education, encouraging those in attendance to embrace the sisters’ “tools” of fruitful instruction: prayer, empathy, service, and community.
“All of us are here because of the school sisters and the impact they make in each of our lives and the ministries we all are serving in and working with,” O’Brien said. “They open their doors, open their hearts, to men and women to join them and have us learn from them — not only in their actions and in their ministry but in community.”
“It’s really our privilege,” she added, “to walk alongside each other and continue to do this work.”
Cutline for featured image: Sister Maria Gomez, SSND, left, and Sister Carol George, SSND, smile for a photo during the Women’s Leadership Luncheon at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch on March 25. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)
