Where Heaven and the
Bronx Met
On Friday
March 10, Mr. Kenneth Cooper, a former Hayes faculty member who currently
teachers at Saint John’s College High School in Washington D.C., and his wife,
Mrs. Jacalyn Kalin, an ESL professor at Montgomery College in Maryland met with
the Cardinal and Gold students of Brother William Sherlog’s Theology 9 class to
discuss a newly printed book they have co-authored. The freshmen read the book during February
and the first week of this month. Mr. Lessa arranged for the purchase of a
classroom set and expedited this project.
Where Heaven and the Bronx Met, Opus Press, Washington, DC, 2016 is
a lively novel that explores Catholic secondary education, personal conversion,
the call to holiness, and the spiritual battle between forces of good and
evil. While adult readers will enjoy the story, Cooper and Kalin are
specifically writing to high school teenagers who face a wide array of
challenging experiences. The entire book is set in the Bronx with many chapters
based on Mr. Cooper’s teaching and coaching days at Hayes. Schools throughout
the nation will be incorporating this book into their curricula and we are
proud to say that Hayes has led the way in this innovative project. Both
authors, teachers and students enjoyed a spirited conversation on the Bronx
characters, plots and themes that unfold
in 248 pages of solid theology mixed with fun and action.
