Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School students paint signs in the gymnasium. One of the strengths of the school is the familial feel, which draws grown students back as staff members. (Submitted photo)

Nancy Anderson
Special to the Catholic Herald

Some have been here nearly forever. For others, it just feels that way. But, regardless of their time here, staff at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School, Ladysmith, are here because it feels like a family.

Brian Groothousen, Our Lady of Sorrows principal, returned only six months ago, but he has a long history of being a student here from kindergarten through eighth grade, enrolling his own children, and having a vision of helping all OLS students “get to heaven” after teaching the sciences and tech ed in the local public school system for almost 30 years.

Groothousen is carrying forward the history of his mother, Nancy Groothousen, who was a second-grade teacher at OLS beginning before Groothousen was born.

“I never imagined being here as a principal,” he commented. “I thought of this as a potential retirement option, maybe as a science teacher or a custodian, but never in this service role.” Now, having been here since the current school year began, he feels confident “OLS is one of our best outreaches and evangelization opportunities in the cluster.”

The school’s 4-year-old kindergarten teacher, Megan Campbell, is proof positive of Brian’s claim. This is Campbell’s fifth year at OLS in her early childhood education role. She explains the personal transformation that took place once she arrived: “I grew up without any religion – I’d never been to a church service until I attended with my students at OLS,” she said.

Campbell was newly grieving her grandpa prior to her mother seeing the ad for a preschool teacher at OLS.

“I didn’t want to apply, but Mom was insistent. I was certain a job in a Catholic school was not for me,” she said. “I finally made a deal with Mom that I would try it for one year and then reconsider. At the end of that year, I had no questions. Of course, I would stay.”

Campbell explained, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It feels like a family here, and at Mass on Wednesdays, that family has expanded. It’s so welcoming. When I walk into church, I feel it’s a happy place.”

Campbell was so happy, she took the leap to become a Catholic herself.

“I was baptized with my students there with me, which made it so special,” she added, admitting that becoming Catholic without any advance religious understanding was a challenge.

“Learning the aspects of the Mass,” she said, smiling, “that became easier when my 4K students’ eighth-grade buddies started helping me!”

“All this was meant to be,” Campbell stressed. “It’s a calling. Once you get that, God makes it happen, and it’s really beautiful to experience. Before I came here, I didn’t see these opportunities that were in my life all along. It’s an eye-opening experience.”

Other staff members, including elementary teacher Linda Zimmer, have also found their way to OLS. Before being recruited, Linda had seriously considered throwing in the educational towel. But, being able to continue to see the growth of her “kids,” and watching over their “ah-ha moments” gave her the strength to carry on. She made the move four years ago.

OLS sustains her will to persevere: “It’s so much more familial in a school like this,” Zimmer said. “Plus, I can now be free about talking about God and my faith. And I can pray openly. I feel very supported here. Brian being here gives this place roots, and we all know he has skin in the game. He’s not just sitting back directing. He’s out there doing. He goes with the flow, gives his input and lets us know he wants to know ours.”

And then there is the school’s “Fixer of All Things,” according to the nameplate that adorns Katelyn Schneider’s desk in the school office. Schneider is another OLS graduate who found her way home.

Her mom, Peggy Novak, taught at the school for years and comes back as a substitute teacher and “do-er of all things good.” Schneider attended OLS from 4K through eighth grade, moving on to public high school and then into the world of careers that left her wanting something different. She decided to come home to OLS in 2006 in a cook position and moved to the office during COVID, where she has been ever since.

Schneider is the epitome of humility, as are her cohorts. She is the staff person everyone goes to when a problem needs a solution, when a historical perspective about the school is warranted, when someone needs to step in and say, “I can do that.”

“I can’t imagine being anywhere else,” she said. “We give assurance to our families. Our mission statement is a perfect summary of our intention: We’re here to help make these kids all-around good people.

Kelly Tindol has been with OLS for 25 years.

“I was hired here into a group of 10 women who welcomed me, mothered me and made this feel like a family,” Tindol said. “My fear back then was that someday they’d be gone. Now, it’s becoming my turn to carry on the family sense amongst our staff.”

As with Zimmer, it’s important to Tindol to be able to teach with her faith at the forefront. “I love being with the kids,” she exclaimed, “teaching them about God in the hopes they’ll carry on. Teaching them about humility and its connection to empathy can be done by helping them understand Jesus’s experiences. It’s so important that our students understand the similarities we all have and not to focus on our differences.”

Ryan Smith is a sixth-grader who’s been at OLS most of his school career. “People make me feel wanted here,” Smith said. “I like the help I get here. I’m building courage here, and God has a lot to do with it, by keeping me calm in all things.”

Jill Sweet, parent to five OLS students, feels making the move here has been one of the best decisions of her family’s life.

“You’re not going to get a better family-oriented experience than at OLS,” Sweet stressed. “They care about you, your children’s education and your faith, and they do so respectfully, all without pushing.

Sweet’s third-grader, Jenson, came home one day and said, “God is good! Church is good! More people should go!”
Sweet agrees wholeheartedly.

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” she added. “God drew me to him here. We would have all missed so much if we’d continued on our same path.”

Tindol sums up the sense of family: “We’re all called here for different reasons, and we have answered that call. Maybe God chose us all to be a family before we realized it.”

Nancy Anderson is a parishioner at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.