Sioux City Sacred Heart students pray the rosary for the Holy Father’s health and well-being while viewing people praying the rosary in the Vatican.

Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools is proud to announce its 2025 Hall of PRIDE class, honoring six outstanding alumni for their achievements in Crusader athletics. The inductees, spanning multiple generations, have made a lasting impact on Heelan sports and beyond. This year’s honorees include: • Dan LaFleur (’71) – Multi-sport standout, University of Iowa football player. • Al Jones (’76) – First Team All-State football player, Heelan basketball MVP, Wayne State athlete. • Bobby Soule (’83) – Four-time state champion in cross country/track, Iowa State Big 8 Champion. • Jamie (Dardis) Miller (’99) – Record-setting softball star, University of Kentucky standout, IGHSAU Hall of Fame inductee. • Brandon Wegher (’09) – Iowa high school football legend, Heelan state champion, former NFL player. • Zach McCabe (’10) – Basketball and football star, two-time state champion, University of Iowa basketball player.

The Friends of Gehlen Catholic Ball on March presents the Kentucky Derby at the Le Mars Convention Center, hosted by General Chairs Matt and Christin Konz and Mychal and Maggie Rechtenbaugh. “We appreciate the impact these fundraising events have on the school financially, but also their significance in facilitating and creating a sense of community and pride in the school. We had always felt that it was a way to support and give back to the school but also to make and encourage further connections within the school community,” said Matt and Christin Konz.

Missouri River Historical Development Inc., (MRHD) awarded a total of $300,000 to four local colleges during an award ceremony Feb. 20 at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City. Briar Cliff University, Morningside University, St. Luke’s College, and Western Iowa Tech Community College each received $75,000 to administer MRHD Scholarship Grants during the 2025-26 academic year.

Faced with an aging and outdated elementary building coupled with a desire for a single site school campus, St. Mary School in Remsen recently launched a $7 million capital campaign. Elementary wing The primary goal of the We Believe…Our Faith, Our Family, Our Future Capital Campaign is to build a new elementary addition to the existing middle/high school building, which will be updated. The campaign general chairs are Ryan and Melissa Feeck and Danny and Sara Harpenau.

Sioux City Bishop Heelan High School students came together during Catholic Schools Week to support Mary’s Choice, a local nonprofit dedicated to assisting mothers and families in need. Through a school-wide diaper drive, students donated 3,590 diapers and 79 packs of wipes to help stock essential supplies for families who rely on Mary’s Choice.

An estate gift worth $3.8 million has led Gehlen Catholic leaders to research and prioritize plans to prosper the school for future generations. In 2023, Paul Brauch left over 250 acres to Gehlen Catholic School and All Saints Parish in his estate. Brauch was known as a quiet man, who was deeply rooted in his Catholic faith. He loved God and his country, and was said to talk about how important it was for this generation to help the next. “A gift of this magnitude provides a real legacy on behalf of the donor to assure the ability of the parish and school continue to provide for the practice of and growth in the faith,” said Father Doug Klein, priest president of Gehlen Catholic School.

For the first time in school history, Storm Lake St. Mary School hopes to purchase a new school bus with the fund-a-cause at their March 8 fundraiser.

In celebration of Catholic Schools Week, thousands of children across the Midwest came together on January 28 to pray the World Mission Rosary via Zoom. Organized by the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA), one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies, this prayer initiative united students from 77 Catholic elementary schools across 14 dioceses, fostering a spirit of global solidarity and missionary discipleship. St. Rose of Lima School in Denison was one of the participants.

Fifteen students from Sacred Heart School in Spencer recently learned some new life skills while having fun in an after-school program called Adventures with Kay, offered by the school’s food service director. For the month of January, Kay Rose held classes on Thursdays for students in fourth to sixth grade to dabble in cooking and learn other skills.

An audio essay by Emmet Juergens, a sophomore at Kuemper Catholic High School in Carroll has advanced to the finals in the national competition for the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Voice of Democracy Contest. He wrote and recorded the essay as an advanced English class assignment last fall. This course is taught by Kuemper English teacher Jeff Hughes.

Father Brian Feller, pastor of Our Lady of the Plains Parish, talked about his religious vocation to students at Pocahontas Catholic School during Catholic Schools Week.

The Pocahontas Knights of Columbus held their annual Spelling Bee for grades 4th to 6th on Jan. 24 at Pocahontas Catholic School. Here are the first and second place, plus an alternate for ​each grade.

Briar Cliff University of Sioux City joins Catholic schools nationwide in celebrating Catholic Schools Week 2025, an annual observance recognizing the profound impact of faith-based education. From Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, the university reflects on the values, community, and academic excellence fostered through Catholic education.

Service projects are commonplace in Catholic schools, including this unique toy drive at Carroll Kuemper Catholic School this year. Austin Mollhoff, a second grade student, receives treatments at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City and he wanted to start a toy drive for children at the hospital.

Students at Sacred Heart School in Spencer can now enjoy an enhanced learning experience in the school library thanks to recent updates. Tyler Horkey, principal of Sacred Heart, pointed out that the school received a $10,000 grant from the Palo Alto Gaming Development Corporation to undertake the project so no funds from the parish or school budgets were utilized. These grants are funded by proceeds from the Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Emmetsburg.

As diocesan schools join with others across the country to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, this year there is much to celebrate. According to Stacia Thompson, coordinator of enrollment and outreach, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sioux City have the best enrollment numbers in years. “We are very pleased. We had nearly a 5% increase in enrollment which is the highest increase we have had since about 2010,” she said.

Sioux City Bishop Heelan High School announced seniors Mackenzie Tott and Abigail Demers have been named semifinalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Competition (NMSC®). Their recognition follows their outstanding performance on the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. This honor places them among the top one percent of high school seniors in the nation.

Briar Cliff University announced earlier this month two initiatives to expand access to Catholic higher education for potential enrollees. One is targeted for low-income students and the other is designed to attract Catholic students.

The faithful of the Diocese of Sioux City can participate in a special collection in their local parish Feb. 1 and 2 to support the scholarship fund for Briar Cliff University, the only Catholic institution of higher learning in the diocese.