Working at DLSBS gives principal fresh perspective on faith

By Neal Wedum
De La Salle Blackfeet School principal

Not that I feel like an outsider looking in, but as a Norwegian Lutheran who was in public education for over 38 years, being principal of a small Catholic school has placed me in that role. It is a position I accepted with some reservations, but one I have come to love and honor.

De La Salle Blackfeet School, in Browning on the Blackfeet Reservation, is unique in the milieu of Catholic education. It is the only Nativity Miguel, Lasallian School on a reservation, anywhere. There isn’t another. This is a source of pride within the Church and among the staff, students and parents who have chosen to participate in faith-based education.

Invited to be a part of this distinctive organization has given me a fresh perspective on my own faith and on the place of faith-based education in our world as it currently dysfunctions. For our students, De La Salle Blackfeet School presents experiences not found in classrooms of public schools.

The obvious religious aspect aside, our students enjoy a close relationship with a diverse population of teachers and volunteers. Our students are exposed to college and high school students from throughout the United States via our immersion group program. The objective of this exposure is to make our students more aware of opportunities that exist for them outside of the reservation, especially from the standpoint of education. We are able help them see that they can leave home for post-secondary opportunities, and return to the reservation with skills that will make life here better.

Kalispell school draws on Sisters of Mercy Foundation

By Joanna Eichner
St. Matthew’s Parish School principal

I have been honored to call the community that surrounds St. Matthew’s Parish School my home for the past 9 years, a mere 9 percent of the 93 years the school has been educating students in Kalispell. There are generations of families who have been a part of this story for much longer. They are the foundation of this school, founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1917.

You have to know where you have come from to know where you are going, and so, in preparing for our future, we must first understand our past. Upon opening in 1917, St. Matthew’s educated students through the 12th grade, and continued to do so until 1941. The parish bought the school and property from the Sisters of Mercy in 1956. In 1970 the school closed the eighth grade, which was followed by loss of the seventh grade a few years later. Kindergarten was added in 1976, followed by preschool in 1982. The school continued to grow, because in 2001 and 2002 the seventh and eighth grades were re-established after absences of nearly 30 years.

St. Matthew’s currently educates students, ages 4-14, in academics and the Catholic faith. Being in a small school, the students have the opportunity to teach each other outside the classroom walls. They teach their younger “buddies” the way of the Mass, and mentor them on the playground. Each day begins in prayer and ends in prayer, and lessons throughout the day are interwoven with the teachings of our Catholic faith. Whether we are raising money for the Guatemala Mission school or volunteering in the community, the Sisters of Mercy charism, which embraces the value of contemplation and action, is alive and well at St. Matthew’s Parish School.

Saint’s message central at Loyola Sacred Heart

By Kathy Schneider
Loyola Sacred Heart High School principal

“Christ has no other hands on Earth but yours! Yours are the Hands with which He Blesses all the World” – St. Teresa of Avila