What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, jeff@stjoan.com.

San Miguel Middle School "Brothers Where Art Thou?" ...a Christian Brothers School

Sitting in the congregation at St. Joan of Arc are men and women who would say if asked, that they have been taught by the Christian Brothers. Some would testify to the fact that the Christian Brothers made the difference in who they are today. Some might lament the loss of the Brothers in the schools. This is a story about a Christian Brother in the year 2002 who is working in the Phillip’s neighborhood and who makes you think again about Brothers, and the call of the Gospel.

DDriving up and down Franklin Ave in Minneapolis is always a two-part experience. The foot traffic on the street gives a picture of hard scrabble times, but in some of the buildings like Peace House, Catholic Charities, and San Miguel Middle School, one can see the human spirit at its best. 1308 East Franklin was the Charities’ Branch One Center. They have moved and are currently renting to Brother Larry Schatz who with his staff has transformed it into a middle school for preteens having trouble with English, with poverty, and adjusting to America. Children hardly in their teens and struggling with life survival challenges, both complicating their abilities to learn. When you’re a kid, unless someone really understands and takes the time to help, life is just going to get harder. But that is what the San Miguel Middle School is about, or as the mission statement says: “In God‘s love the Christian Brothers’ tradition empowers students to fulfill their cultural story and creation in God‘s image.”

John Baptist De La Salle

MMost people don’t know about this school. Some ask, “When did it start”? You want to say that it really started in about 1680 in France. Well, that is really when the idea of the Christian Brothers got started. A cleric by the name of John Baptist De La Salle got involved with a group of rough and barely literate young men who wanted to establish schools for poor boys. Almost by accident, the young De La Salle gradually assumed the leadership of the small group of lay teachers who were moved by the plight of the poor and who believed education might save them from a life of hopeless despair. In time they formed an association and then a religious brotherhood dedicated to teaching boys in vernacular instead of Latin and accepting them even when they could not pay.

DDe La Salle introduced innovation in teaching, integrated religious instruction with secular subjects, and saw to it that the teachers were well prepared. Christian Brother’s schools sprang up in this country among the poor immigrants. Being taught by the Brothers was the first step out of poverty for thousands of first and second generation Americans. By the mid-sixties in this country, the Christian Brothers had strong schools filled with middle class children. Following Vatican II, in 1967, at a General Chapter Meeting of the Christian Brothers, there was a call to return to their spiritual origins, to teach the poor and the disadvantaged.

TTo give a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor, is the Shared Mission of both Brothers and colleagues. Today, Christian Brother schools span the globe in 82 countries. The Brothers have served in America for 150 years.

HHow did the San Miguel Middle School open on Franklin Ave in Minneapolis? Actually it starts back in North Dakota where Larry Schatz was born. Educated in a Catholic school in Dickinson, North Dakota, Larry Schatz didn’t know anything about the Christian Brothers. He went to St. John’s University and admired the monks. He wanted to teach but just didn’t feel a call to monastic life. With a degree in English and Speech, for three years he taught as a lay person at the old Good Counsel Academy in Mankato, MN. One day killing time while monitoring a study hall, he came across a recruiting brochure about the Christian Brothers and as he said, he had his Epiphany then and there. Laughingly, he says he is truly one of those “ brochure Brothers”.

AAfter a trial period living with the brothers and teaching in Wisconsin, Larry joined the order and in time took temporary and later permanent vows. He is now in his late forties and he has taught high school and college, and studied in Rome. He was on the faculty at Holy Angels in Richfield and at De La Salle in Minneapolis and was on the faculty of St. Mary’s University in Winona. When the San Miguel School started, Brother Larry was intrigued. “ I have always felt a call to be a brother to others and I feel a call to live in community. The idea of starting a school in a poor neighborhood and inviting young men and women to join us for one to three years as a teacher volunteer, and live in Christian community was worth the risk. The risk meant leaving a comfortable campus ministry and moving into a south Minneapolis neighborhood.

Brother Larry Schatz has authored two books dealing with his experiences. They are available at St. Mary's Press. Good News is a bible reflection book for teens and Brothers is Schatz story of his journey to become a Roman Catholic brother.

Good News, Day by Day

Brothers, An Inside Look

TToday Brother Larry and Brother Dennis Galvin, live in community with five young lay volunteers who teach at the middle school and live on a very small stipend. Some of the religious orders have been successful in recruiting lay volunteers to join them for periods of time in community life and participating in the various ministries the religious are involved in.

OOn the still tough street of Franklin Ave, one can peer through the window and see uniformed students in a colorful class room listening to their teacher, a Brother or volunteer. If you lose hope in the human condition, a good place to rethink things is at the San Miguel Middle School. Here Latino and African-American students, now twenty in all, are having the experience of a Brother’s education. “This means we constantly remind students we are in the presence of God, and we know we must educate the whole person, ” says Brother Larry. “This school exists for students who were not succeeding in other schools. We are providing a small, safe, faith-centered, mentoring environment and an extended school day.”

LLarry Schatz plans to grow the school to sixty students. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but their students have special needs and need more one on one attention. You start with kids with extremely limited English proficiency. The goal is to make it possible for them to succeed in our high schools and in our culture. It is giving these children, new to this culture, the same opportunity some of our ancestors got.

BBrother Larry is a teacher, he invites you to get excited about ideas and people. His current job is developing the San Miguel School. The Christian Brothers of the Midwest have been generous. The Archdiocese gave him $10,000. Funding is one issue and finding a more permanent location in the Phillips neighborhood is the other. Worthy causes need champions or visionaries. Brother Larry Schatz is such a man. He understands what the founding charisma of John the Baptist De La Salle was. He believes in his patron and in his words: “To touch the hearts of your students and to inspire them with the Christian spirit is the greatest miracle you can perform.“ Right now Brother Larry is out looking for a few good men and women who could use a cause and want that cause to be like the gospel call to help the poor. He is particularly looking for that man or woman who remembers when someone helped them and made their todays possible.

Chuck MacDonald and his wife Beth are members of St. Joan of Arc. Chuck is a member of the Parish Council. He is currently active helping a clinic in South Africa and works part time teaching English as a second language to recent immigrants. Chuck can be reached at chuckmacdonald@mediaone.net.

FFrom time to time Brother Larry has slipped into one of the row of chairs at St. Joan of Arc. He knows it is a church of restless people. They are restless because so many of them want to make a difference somehow in the world. So many parishioners of St. Joan of Arc are involved in various ministries in the parish, in the community, and even in other parts of the world. People come to St. Joan of Arc and end up in a whole new ministry. If the story of San Miguel Middle School interests you, call Brother Larry at 612.870.1109 or arrange a visit at 1308 E. Franklin Ave, Minneapolis. You can also read about their volunteer needs at http://www.lasalle.org/English/Contact/volMinn.html. It is all about gospel hope and gospel loving.