It was a momentous day for the parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Ottawa. They built a new school, but only after facing tragedy.
It’s almost exactly 14 years to the day that the floodwaters rose in Ottawa, tearing through the village and leaving many buildings in disarray. Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic school was one of those buildings.
Although the school was in rough shape, the priest at the time gave a word of advice that was proven to hold true as they blessed their brand new school building on Sunday (08/22/2021).
Connie Niese, the principal at the school says, “During all of this he just kept telling everyone that there are blessings in these waters. So, we thought it was appropriate to use that as our theme this year, and it’s on our cornerstone of the new building because out of the floodwaters, this is what we got so yes we are very blessed.”
The addition to the school includes classrooms for kindergarten through third grade, a new gym, and an atrium. Bishop Daniel Thomas from Toledo came to bless each room in the new building and to congratulate the Parish for their plan to build a new school coming to fruition.
Bishop Thomas says, “It’s an accomplishment of many years of great time, talent, and treasure and it’s a dream realized for the community and especially for teaching the faith and learning virtue for our children who go to this catholic school.”
Since the flood in 2007, the Ottawa community has been a huge help with making sure the school had a place for them to teach and even donating toward the new school building. The blessings that have come from those floodwaters are felt within the staff at the school.
Jodi Stechschulte, a kindergarten teacher at the school says, “I just think blessed and thankful are the two words that come to mind. It’s not just the staff that has made this possible. It’s so many of the parishioners and people that have given their service, their money, their time to make this all possible. We are all just very blessed and thankful for everyone coming together.”
School for Saints Peter and Paul starts this Tuesday (08/24/2021), where the young students will be enjoying their very first day inside the new building.
