Three students baptized as school in Vermillion grows during pandemic

Second-grader Elenore Staples didn’t feel nervous as she and two of her classmates were baptized during the Jan. 5 school Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Vermillion, even with at least 100 of the school’s students, family members and others present.

“I just felt like I was really happy at that time because I was smiling every time,” said Staples, 7, who was baptized by St. John the Baptist parochial administrator Father Michael Tix, who also serves as the archdiocese’s episcopal vicar for Clergy and Parish Services. Also baptized were Maxwell King and Linden Siebenaler.

Elenore wasn’t the only one smiling, said Father Tix, who said the event was an example of a Catholic school’s evangelizing power and possibly a silver lining in the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was fun to look around and see the reactions of people, especially the kids who were baptized,” he said. “Smiles-a-plenty throughout the church. As Pope Francis would say, joy is a sign of the presence of God, and that clearly was visible on that baptism day.”

The baptisms took place as enrollment at the pre-K through fourth grade school has increased 45% in recent years, from 84 at the end of the 2019-2020 school year to a current enrollment of 122. Located southeast of Rosemount, St. John the Baptist is a tri-parish school of St. John the Baptist, St. Mathias in Hampton and St. Mary in New Trier.

Whether some parents who weren’t Catholic or active churchgoers sought in-person learning during the pandemic, or enrolled their children for preschool and had them stay for grade school, their children’s instruction about the faith and sacraments has impacted families, said Principal Paul Dieltz.

The school’s enrollment growth between the 2019 and 2020 school years can be attributed in part to the school’s commitment to both safety and in-person learning, Dieltz said. Expansion of its preschool has also been a factor.

“We attribute it to our community being a small tight-knit community and being a great place where everyone feels connected,” Dieltz said.

Brent and Alison Staples enrolled their daughter, Elenore, at St. John the Baptist during the last school year, when they began working from home during the pandemic. Drawn by in-person learning, Alison Staples said they’ve stayed because of the principal and staff.

Elenore Staples’ teacher, Maria Therres, said families asked about having their children baptized after she sent a letter to the parents of her 18 students about preparing this year for the sacraments of first reconciliation and Communion.

As her daughter learned about the sacraments and discovered that her friends were baptized, she asked her parents, who were raised Catholic, about baptism, said Alison Staples, 41. The couple have supported their daughter’s desire to be baptized, she said.

Children can bring their parents to the faith by asking questions about the sacraments, Father Tix said. “We’re just glad to take them where they are and bring them to a closer relationship with Christ through the Church,” he said.

At the Mass, Father Tix reinforced what the students had learned about baptism in school. “We had the opportunity to not only talk about it but experience it, and experience is another teacher,” Father Tix said. Explaining the universal call to holiness, Father Tix said baptism washes clean original sin and brings people into God’s family. Oil, a white garment and candles have special roles in the ceremony, he said.

Exposing families to the faith can result in baptisms, Dieltz said, noting that another family has contacted him about baptizing their child next year.

“It’s an easy point of evangelization for families and students to kind of get a foot in the door and then see what the Catholic Church is all about,” he said.