By Reagan Scott
For the Register
This semester, Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo has implemented a Community System in which all students in the school participate. It is the hope of the faculty that this new endeavor will help students grow in their relationships with God, and with one another.
The students are divided into four communities of roughly 70 students, each under the patronage of a different saint. The communities are then divided into houses of about 22 to 24 students, with three houses in each community. The communities are made up of students from every grade, 7 through 12.
Gery Kenney, the director of campus ministry at Bishop Neumann, said the seeds for this new system were sown six years ago, when she saw it in action at St. James Academy, a Catholic high school in Lenexa, Kan. She and a group of teachers later traveled back to the school to observe the system again before coming back to develop something like it for Bishop Neumann.
“We need to separate ourselves apart as a Catholic school,” she said. “This is just another way to do it. Everything done in our communities is intentional, thought out and done with the purpose of ultimately growing in relationship with each other and God.”
Eventually, the system will supplant the school’s student council, offering opportunities for growth and leadership to more students. Last semester, 45 student leaders were selected from the 11th and 12th grades, to meet and undergo leadership training during the fall semester. Now, they are implementing the lessons learned in their houses and communities.
The student leaders were broken up into pairs to choose saints they would want to represent one of the school’s communities. Each pair gave a presentation to their teachers, who narrowed the options down to eight saints. The student body then got to pick the four that they wanted for the communities: St. Michael, St. Joseph, St. Joan of Arc and St. José Sánchez del Río.
Each community will work to live out the charisms of the saint its members have chosen, and each saint has an associated phrase or quote. St. Michael’s is “Defend us in battle,” St. Joseph’s is “Terror of Demons and Protector of Families,” St. Joan of Arc’s is “I was born to do this!” and St. José Sánchez del Río’s is “¡Viva Cristo Rey!”
To allow time for growth in faith and fellowship, each house meets three times a week for 10 minutes. Each Thursday, communities meet for 30 minutes. Time during these longer periods is planned out by community leaders, to encompass a social or spiritual aspect.
Each Friday, the communities attend all-school Mass together. The student leaders for the houses and communities meet one day each week for prayer, planning and fellowship.
“We feel like our students are really learning theology in their religion classes, but we wanted to provide them an even greater opportunity to live out their faith, to foster growth and a relationship with God,” Kenney said.
Since the program is new, it is Kenney’s expectation that the system will evolve over time, as the school comes up with new ideas and determines what works and what doesn’t. The faculty is working hard to be intentional and make sure it’s well thought out.
“We were very purposeful with faculty formation to build community with our faculty before this,” Kenney said.
Faculty met with Scott Hartman, the senior director of national training for Boys Town, two to three times a month in the fall semester, in order to build a sense of community among the staff and to learn new ways to build that same community with the students.
“In school, you tend to be friends with kids your own age,” Kenney said. “We want this system to bridge that gap. I can already sense the unity of the house; it’s a family-type feeling.”
It is the hope of staff that future competitions, like a “Cavalier Cup,” will help build community and encourage working together as a team.
Annual events, like the school’s food drive, can be worked into the community system, with points awarded for donations.
Kenney said, “We’re trying to take things we’re already doing, and making a competition out of it. However, our main goal is to make everything we do intentional and with the purpose to serve God.”
Kenney said enthusiasm among students is high, and that it’s her hope that each of them will be affected positively.
She said, “I want each student to know that they are loved, and they have a place where they belong. I want them to grow in their relationship with Christ.”
