‘… but the Lord establishes their steps’
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New Seton Catholic principal led to Binghamton, Catholic faith
By Tami S. Scott, associate editor
When Ean Corrado, his wife Valerie and their two kids relocated from New York City to Binghamton last year, a permanent residence was not on their radar.
Nor was finding religion.
That’s when we call on the Book of Proverbs and read verse 16:9: “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Ean is now the new principal of Seton Catholic High School — but a series of events led to his new vocation, beginning with a change of heart after living through the pandemic.
“I would never have left New York City if it wasn’t for the experience with COVID,” said the long-time educator and administrator. “We were closed. Schools were closed for two and a half years.” His children’s education and social development were suddenly and indefinitely halted. “If it wasn’t for that experience and the way that it impacted the family, [we] probably would not have left [the City] until I retired.”
With NYC in the rearview mirror, the Corrados’ move north brought them closer to extended family, but it was also meant to give them time — about a year, they thought — to figure out their next step. “It wasn’t necessarily that we were going to stay in this area,” he said.
But then St. James School happened.
“I had not identified, I had not seen, observed, felt a more positive, more joyful, warmer school culture and faculty that was just so inclusive and welcoming and caring and again, joyful and supportive, than St. James,” said Ean, who was researching area schools for his daughter Lilly, a second grader at the time.
And since he had left his longtime career at NYCDOE (New York City Dept. of Education) District 75 behind, his current work renovating their newly purchased home allowed him the opportunity to become an active volunteer at St. James. He became a PTO parent, read to the class and assisted with fundraisers.
“I guess I gravitated there because I’m comfortable in schools,” he said. “I know what schools need and really wanted to do everything I could to support [it] because my daughter loved the environment and became really engaged in [the] Catholic faith.”
Lilly brought her love for Jesus and the Blessed Mother home, and as a result, the family found themselves enveloped in nightly prayer, saying the rosary with Mother Angelica before bed, Ean said.
“I was not baptized [or] raised in a religious home,” Ean shared. His father’s side of the family was Sicilian and Catholic while his mother’s side was of European and Jewish descent. “I didn’t practice either religion and there wasn’t much of a focus [on either] in the home growing up — outside of the December holidays, which were both celebrated by gift giving but not in any spiritual way.”
Lilly’s exposure to the Catholic faith, however, has changed the family’s course. She made it clear to her parents that she wanted to remain at St. James for the next academic year, to which her father agreed was a fair ask.
So as the seeds of faith were sprouting in the Corrado home, Ean as a volunteer was inadvertently cultivating school-related connections that led him to apply for — and ultimately accept — the role of principal at Seton Catholic.
“These conversations that you have … you never expect them to connect, you know, weeks, months later,” he said. But a position opened that matched his expertise and he was in the pipeline. “This is my skill set. This is what I do.”
Ean went on to say it was a blessing and so humbling to serve the St. James community, comprised of “such good people that you can’t help but be attracted to serve and support.”
“I found myself questioning, like, where did these people come from?” he added. “There’s just a spirit that‘s bigger than even that question, right? And then you get it. You get it. And you feel it in ways that once upon a time I would not have expected. So, this journey of faith for me … the piece that brought me wasn’t my parents, but it was much more conscious a choice.”
Ean and Valerie, who was raised Christian but not Catholic, are scheduled to begin RCIA classes at St. James Church this fall. Lilly is set to take classes, too, and will be baptized and complete her First Communion this school year.
Ean agrees with the adage that God works in mysterious ways, that there’s more at work than just “Oh, what a coincidence!” Enrolling Lilly at St. James … the St. James principal retiring, leading the former principal to return, leading to the open position at Seton Catholic … the conversations with administrators and families in the school community … finding faith amidst it all.
“You can’t discount that there is more to it than [coincidence] and that there are these ordered steps. There was a real need here. It was just ‘right place, right time,’” he said. “But definitely, I do believe that I was … called, put, pushed, and some of that was by real, living people, and I think that’s a result of some of those Divine pieces at work.”
“In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9
