Ten seniors graduated Saturday, May 20 from Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Victory, their first class to have completed all four years.
“Our exams were the first to be graded, we performed the first play,” said Evelyn Polley during her valedictorian speech.
“We got to sort of define what Our Lady of Victory was,” Evelyn Polley told Denver Catholic.
The school had small beginnings, with several parents meeting in the basement of St. Mary Parish in Littleton in early 2019, discussing their desire for a Catholic high school in the south metro Denver area. Just six months after those conversations, the school opened. They shared space with the Our Lady of Lourdes south campus for three years, and are now housed at Littleton Church of Christ.
Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary in Bismark, N.D. gave the commencement speech.
“Your education is meant to lead you and to assist you, as the instruction and love of your parents did before and continues to do, to a life of great souled living — magnanimity,” Msgr. Shea said.
He encouraged the graduates to let go of a worldly conception of how they can make their parents and teachers proud in this next season of life.
“It will not be through accomplishments or the use of your talents in ways that can be measured by this world because the world’s measure is too small for your greatness,” Msgr. Shea told them.
“God and all the angels sit on the edge of their seats looking for what you will do, trembling with the possibility of your life. Your teachers and your parents will be most gratified and most proud when they are together with you in the glory of heaven.”
Msgr. Shea described his father as a farmer in North Dakota, sinking to his knees in the soil after planting and praying for God’s help.
“He didn’t know it, but when he was kneeling there praying, he was planting both the seeds of wheat and the seeds of faith.”
These parents have planted those same seeds in their children.
“Every parent is a farmer in that way and every family is a field,” Msgr. Shea said. “We can look at this new crop as it turns toward the springtime sun and have great hope.”
Msgr. Shea got at the heart of why the parents started the school to begin with.
The parents recognized their role as the primary educators of their children and took that to heart, said Alex Crane, headmaster of the school. They realized they needed to start a school to follow through on their role.
“To be blunt, to save these kids’ souls,” Crane said.
Greg Polley, father of Evelyn Polley, was one of those first parents who dreamed up the idea of the school.
“For the parents it was a step out in faith,” Greg Polley said. “Yes, we need this.”
“These parents are great parents,” Crane said. “It makes the life of an educator that much easier and joyful. It gives us the ability to go really deep.”
The school aims to come alongside parents, not usurping their role as the primary educators, Crane explained. They are cognisant of the importance of family time, aiming for a “homework temperance,” he said.
“I think there’s a temptation during the high school years for kids to get so involved in things,” Crane said. “High school becomes the new college.”
The school is working on developing an athletic department, but also with athletic temperance, not having practices every day, he said.
“We really want to protect the family time,” Crane said.
Our Lady of Victory is a Chesterton Academy, meaning it uses a specific curriculum belonging to the Chesterton network of schools. The network has almost 60 schools worldwide. Our Lady of Victory also uses a house system where students across grade levels are placed into different “houses” in an effort to build community and fellowship among students, as well as for competitions and fundraisers.
Starting a school is no small feat. However, when undertaking such an endeavor, Greg Polley mentioned a location, a curriculum and support as essentials.
“Having the Chesterton network is a big deal,” Greg Polley said. “They’ve been growing like wildfire.”
He highlighted Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila’s support and openness to the school.
“It’s not up to just one person,” Greg Polley said. “It did come out of a community.”
With only 10 seniors, the class of 2023 took all their classes together, did everything together.
“It almost forced us to be really good friends,” Evelyn Polley said.
The classmates learned how to practice kindness to everyone, not just pick and choose your friends, Evelyn Polley said.
“I’m blown away by the quality of these kids,” Crane said. “They’ve gained that pioneering spirit, they’ve lived it. This class has experienced and endured a lot, and they’ve been able to laugh through it.”