Abundant Blessings
Dear Mater Dei Community,
It's hard to believe we're just three months away from bringing our inaugural year to a close! Time has flown by for the apostolate, as God has been keeping us on our toes. In this newsletter we are happy to share that we received some new items for the education center. Also, we had a successful open house event for prospective families. Blessings are abundant as we prepare for year two. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. May God bless you.
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Ad Jesum Per Mariam
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Day-to-day at Mater Dei
Students had a busy month in their regular routines in the classroom. In addition, we celebrated several birthdays! The students took the initiative to plan surprise birthday parties, snacks and activities for their fellow classmates. It is heartwarming to see these gestures of kindness among the students on a regular basis.
Our monthly service project took place at the Domiano Center downtown. We believe it is important for the students to experience what it is like to be served before they can effectively go out and serve, so we wanted to mix it up this month. We met in the community room at the Steve O'Neil Apartments for discussion and preparation and then walked together to the Domiano Center. After eating lunch together with others who were being served, we walked back to the community room to process and reflect on the experience.
We hosted 60-70 people for our open house event on the 27th. After listening to a presentation and introductions from our instructors, prospective families had a chance to walk through the education center to get a feel for the space. Feedback was positive and we've had our first few students enroll after opening registration just a few days ago. Please spread the word to any incoming 9th or 10th graders you know to check out the Mater Dei Education Program as an option for their Catholic high school education.
Education center update
We were blessed with a furniture donation from the Sheraton Duluth, as they were liquidating a number of their rooms for remodeling. We received office desks, tables and a number of leather club chairs for the student lounge and office. Even more of a blessing was the enormous team of volunteers that showed up to haul the three truckloads/trailers full of stuff. The generosity of our Mater Dei community and families continues to be an inspiration as we build up the apostolate.
Real Presence Radio
Marie Mullen, Executive Director of Mater Dei, had the chance to sit down for an interview on Real Presence Live recently. She visited with Fr. Rich Kunst and Kevin Pilon about our education program and how things have been going for us in the inaugural year. If you missed it, you can check out the 15 minute interview by listening to the podcast here.
Dean's List - Act of the Month
This month I was particularly moved when an instructor, Mrs. Cossack, suggested a student for the Dean's list based on her experience during class. Although Ruth Frederickson was not in Algebra class (she was studying hard right outside the classroom), she overheard Mrs. Cossack (well, maybe she wasn't studying that hard) telling the class that she could not get into the office to get some printed materials. To Mrs. Cossack's delight, Ruth found the secretary and retrieved the copies without being asked. Thank you Ruth for being such a good example to the other students and staff and welcome to the Dean's list!
Mr. Lemke
Dean of Students