BROOKINGS When the new St. Thomas More Catholic Church opened in 2000 at the corner of Eighth Street South there was plenty of room for a school. In 2002 came the mission for a pre-school: accomplished in 2005. And that was just the beginning.
The pre-school remains and serves 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, with part-time or fulltime options. Kindergarten came in 2017; following that other grades were added, one per year. Today the school proper consists of: elementary (K-3) and intermediate (4 and 5). The total student body numbers 132, in pre-school through fifth grade. And while STMCS is private and Catholic, not all the students are Catholic.
There is a handful of students in each grade that are other faith denominations, Principal Marissa Kessler, in her first year at the helm, explained.
Kessler came to STMCS in July. Shes a South Dakotan and a graduate of Northern State University (Aberdeen). She and her husband later lived in Nebraska before coming back to South Dakota. She started her career as an elementary school teacher.
In addition to the principal and office manager, the staff has a total of 15 teachers and aides who cover pre-K through fifth grade, plus Spanish, art, music and physical education. The school does not have a traditional school board, as does a typical public school.
The terminology is different, the Rev. Thomas Fitzpatrick, superintendent and also pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, explained. There is per se no school board. Its a school advisory council. (Its job is) to counsel and advise the decision-making process for the principal and the pastor.
The school is operated under the benevolence of the bishop (Donald DeGrood, Sioux Falls Diocese). The school and all the Catholic schools in the diocese could be viewed as the teaching arm of the Church.
Faith and community
The theme for this years Catholic Schools Week is: Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community. Fitzpatrick explained, In the simplest form, the school gives light to the parish and by extension gives light to our faith life.
Visible rays of that light can be viewed by parishioners entering the church, for Sunday Masses and other times when school is not in session, via the school corridor (which is not the churchs main entrance) and seeing students art work on the walls.
People like seeing all the stuff on the walls, the pastor said. They take delight in the light that they see. There are signs of life in the artwork.
So when you talk about faith in community the natural extension of our faith is community. So the two are mutually inclusive of each other, which is the whole idea of the community and the school.
The most important thing we do as a parish is instruct our children: whether its the hundreds that we have in religious education on Wednesday night or the 130 or so that we have here during the school-day five days a week.
Saturday for the Gala
Each day of Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate a different aspect of our community, the principal explained. The week (started) on Sunday with celebrating our parish and thanking our parish for their support. Students wore their uniforms to Mass and shared a song.
Following Mass came an open house to welcome current families, parishioners, supporters and local prospective families. Students had the opportunity to show off their classrooms.
Today students are celebrating giving back to our community, with donations, via the Ivy Center, to support those affected by the recent fire in downtown Brookings.
Tuesday were celebrating our students, Kessler said. Students (Catholic Jacks) from the Newman Center at SDSU are invited to join our students for lunch. (They are) an inspiration for our students to live their life in college like they live theirs.
Continuing, the principal noted: Wednesday is celebrating our nation. Following our school Mass, which we typically have Wednesday morning, we will be saying a school-wide Rosary for our nation.
Thursday is celebrating vocations. We will have some special activities and prayers for our priests and religious life. Students are encouraged to dress as their future vocation or what they would like to be when they grow up. Hope we see some priests and sisters.
Friday celebrates our faculty, staff and volunteers. Well be inviting families to come play board games and have a light breakfast in the morning. Additionally, throughout the day there will be some final preparations for Saturdays big event: Gala and Grand Auction, the biggest annual fundraiser for the school.
This is their job
Catholic Schools Week is great, obviously because we celebrate the faith and uniqueness of Catholic schools, Fitzpatrick said. But also really the excitement of the students and staff.
Its something that I think is palpable; the excitement is just not a burst of energy that dissipates anywhere. Because we are able to reinforce it into the reason why theyre here in school in the first place.
I like to joke with the children but many a true word is said in jest: This is their job, the pastor-superintendent explained. And its not just reading, writing and arithmetic. But its their job to understand what virtue is, how it is helpful to them, not just in the classroom and in the school setting but in their life moving forward. And just even that exuberance that they have as a result of everything that theyre trying to be taught will help them to be exuberant throughout their lives.
While all the grades are important to the spiritual aspect of STMCS, second grade is especially to be noted and remembered: students have reached that age of reason and are preparing to receive their First Communion. Theyre excited about that, even starting to incite the first graders, because they know whats coming, Fitzpatrick noted.
Contact John Kubal at [email protected].
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