Dear RCS Community,
I want to thank you all for another wonderful school year at RCS. We graduated 26 8th graders this year, who will be going to high schools all over the metro from Bishop Ward to Bishop Miege to Sumner to even Notre Dame de Sion in Kansas City, Missouri. We also saw some great gains in learning, especially in the area of mathematics. We continued to guide our students in the faith this year, with over 30 students from grades 2nd through 8th receiving their first communion and 25 8th graders received the sacrament of confirmation. To see those numbers is a true blessing to our school and a sign of great hope for the future of our church!
This will be my last correspondence with you all as RCS principal. On July 1st, Mr. Garold Baker will be taking over as principal at Resurrection Catholic School. Garold is a faith-filled man who is a strong educational leader. He has been successful in leadership roles in districts such as Basehor Linwood, Turner, and Bonner Springs. He also got his start, much like me, teaching PE in a Catholic school at Tipton Catholic School in Tipton, KS. Mr. Baker is going to continue to shape our students in both their academic and faith lives as principal.
I cannot begin to express my gratitude for being principal here at RCS for the past three years. I am proud of the work our students and staff have done here in my time, especially in terms of developing their faith and being true young “men and women for others” who are going to shape the future of our Catholic church. I believe we are building the support structures needed to help RCS be a school that can better serve all students and families who enroll here. It hasn’t always been an easy process. That said, the community here is special, whether it’s the teachers, staff, students, families, or supporters. RCS is truly a unique school in the heart of KCK.
I used to work at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The school was a Catholic school that served the children and families of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. In Lakota, there is no word for “goodbye”. Instead, they say “Toksa Ake” which means “I’ll see you again.” I know I will see many of you again soon. Whether it’s at Bishop Ward High School (where I will be principal), at church (I will continue to be a parishioner at St. Mary’s-St. Anthony’s), or just in the community. I may be leaving RCS. But I still am entrenched in the Catholic community of Wyandotte County more than ever.
God bless you all for all your support over the years. RCS will always be special to me and I will do all I can to continue to support the school after I leave. Thank you for choosing Catholic education for your children and thank you for blessing your children with us at RCS.
“Toksa Ake”!
Sincerely,
Kevin O’Brien
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