By Karina Fabian

As a child growing up in Milwaukee, Wis., Paul Ackerman dreamed of living out west and being a cowboy. Instead, God called him to a life with the Frater Scholarum Christianarum (Christian Teaching Brothers). While he’s not quite wearing the spurs and herding the cattle, shepherding the students as president of De La Salle Blackfeet School in Browning comes pretty close – and it’s been more challenging and rewarding than any childhood fantasy.

Brother Ackerman was educated by the Christian Brothers and admired their work, so he decided to give it a try. “I figured I could leave if I didn’t like it.” Instead he took vows in 1969, and has since taught high school and at universities.

He’s also been the president of a junior college/trade school in Nakuru, Kenya. Going to Africa fulfilled another childhood dream. “I’ve wanted to go to Africa since I was a little kid. I was fascinated about living in a place with wild beasts of all sorts. In Nakuru, I lived about a mile from a national park,” he said.

Nonetheless, one of the richest experiences was simply living among such a different culture, being the rare white face in a Black nation, and coming to know the myriad of tribes that make up that nation. “Kenya has about 40 tribes with their own distinct personalities and features. After a while I could look at someone walking down the street and tell what tribe the person belonged to.

“In Kenya, only about 5 percent of high school graduates are accepted to the university colleges, so the Brothers had started an innovative junior college/trade school. I had gone there intending to teach, but they needed an administrator. As president, I was the highest-paid person on the staff, making $120 a month.

“For 14 months of the three years I was there, we had no water and just pit toilets. Never once did a student complain. It was a humbling experience and a kind of a revelation. Like many Americans, I was pretty ignorant about Africa, but there’s nothing like living there to overcome ignorance.”

He returned to Wisconsin when his elderly parents needed help at home. The family pulled together to help them stay at home until their deaths.

Afterward, he was asked to come to Montana, fulfilling his dream of coming out West. “Father Ed Kohler had been petitioning the Brothers to start a school at the reservation; and even though it’s no longer a common thing, we saw the need, so about six years ago, my order asked me to come. I said ‘Yes!’ without even knowing where Browning was.”

Brother Ackerman said it’s been a challenge getting used to two new cultures – that of the reservation and that of middle schoolers. It’s also been difficult trying to build a school when 95 percent of the school funds come from donations. Nonetheless, he’s enjoying his “Western” experience.

“It’s wonderful having Glacier National Park just a few miles away. I also get to ride horses whenever I want to. Blackfeet are horse people and dog people, so we never have a shortage of either.”

If you’d like to know more about De La Salle Blackfeet School or would like to send a donation, please look at their website, www.delasalleblackfeet.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 23, No. 2, February 16, 2007.