August 7, 2024 // Diocese

Bernadette Scholars ‘a Blessing’ for Marian Community

Jill Boughton

Freelance Writer

During the 2019-2020 school year, officials at Marian High School introduced a new program aimed at providing a well-rounded Catholic education to members of the school community with special needs. Since that pilot year, which began with five students, the Bernadette Scholars initiative has soared at Marian.

“We knew the program would benefit our entire community, but we had no idea how great a blessing it would be,” said Mark Kirzeder, the former principal at Marian, who helped institute the program at the diocesan high school in Mishawaka. Kirzeder is now the school’s Director of Technology and teaches physics.

When the vision for this initiative was taking shape, the Learning Strategies Program at Marian was already engaged in accommodating students with unique and varied abilities, but there were families in the area who longed for a Catholic education for all of their children, including those with Down syndrome or other intellectual or developmental conditions. Kirzeder and Annie Ganser, Director of the Bernadette Scholars program, believed the school had the faculty, the facility, and the funding to offer more. When these families heard that Marian was considering fully incorporating their differently abled teenagers into the Marian community, these families responded enthusiastically.

When Ganser worked in a public-school setting, which was the only place funded to provide special education services at the time, she said she had the “pipe dream” of serving all students in a Catholic school setting. “I prayed and prayed,” she told Today’s Catholic. Ganser even had a name for the program before it existed, in honor of St. Bernadette, who many believe had cognitive challenges. Tradition holds that in 1858 Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. When Bishop Rhoades named Our Lady of Lourdes as the patroness of Marian High School, Ganser approached Kirzeder with her dream. Marian’s board and other community members made it part of the school’s strategic plan.

Entering its sixth year, Ganser is thrilled with the way Marian’s students have opened up to the Bernadette Scholars, who enable especially the boys to display their tender side. “These students add an openness, their own special flavor to our school,” she said.

Despite the adversity of launching the initiative amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bernadette Scholars program has grown and developed, “and we’re still learning,” according to Kirzeder. In the spring, officials at Marian estimated that there would be nine students in the program this year, including two freshmen.

Ganser points out that while Marian was able to provide a structural framework, adapting to the needs, strengths, and interests of each Bernadette Scholar has been a little like designing a plane while it’s already in the air. Flexibility remains key.

Ganser told Today’s Catholic that the biggest surprise she’s experienced – besides watching other Marian students rise to the challenge of befriending the Bernadette Scholars – it’s been how much joy, laughter, and love the “Bernies” have brought to the community.

In the spring of 2023, when the first cohort was ready to graduate, Marian learned that the state of Indiana was willing to continue funding for young adult transition services until the year any student who wanted to remain at Marian turned 22. There are currently three of these “super seniors,” also known as Lourdes Scholars. Nicholas Becker and Leo Vesprini’s education has taken a somewhat more vocational turn, including internships such as Nick’s with Redeemer Radio. Mary Helfrich is pursuing a Core 40 diploma, with a combination of online learning and intensive help from teachers and aides. Last spring, she earned a medal of excellence in biology.

Alisha Fransted, a veteran teacher who had previously taught at St. Joseph High School and at Riley High School, both in South Bend, came to Marian in the fall of 2023 to coach volleyball and teach English, then began tutoring “Bernies” when her schedule opened up to do so. Fransted said: “I love the school culture that surrounds the Bernadette Scholars. The work is so rewarding.”

For each student in the Bernadette Scholars program, an individualized pathway is tailored to their interests and abilities. Much of their academic time is spent in the school’s resource room, but they also take mainstream classes, both as observers and as active participants. Practical living skills are also emphasized. Social studies work includes recognizing community signs and differentiating wants from needs. In math, they record saving and spending, and they practice “McDonald’s math” with a field trip that involves ordering, calculating costs and nutritional values, and counting change. Reading comprehension is emphasized, building from each student’s current level.

Like all Marian students, the “Bernies” value the service component of their education. They go to the nearby Hellenic Living Center weekly to run bingo games. For several years, their Friday mornings have been spent setting up, serving, and cleaning up after the very popular Coffee Cart, which draws not only Marian students and staff but guests including residents from the Hellenic Center. There is even merchandise for sale with a “Knight Time Coffee” logo the students themselves designed. As their gift to Marian, the 2023 graduating class gave a donation that helped the coffee shop with its expenses and advertising.

Bernadette Scholars are involved in every aspect of the Marian community, from student government to extracurricular activities to community prayer and sports. As they move through the hallways, many typical students warmly greet them by name.

Senior Keely Quinn previously attended St. Matthew Grade School with her six brothers. She told Today’s Catholic that she likes her Marian uniform, Spirit Night, religion class, and coloring in the school library. Besides playing tennis, she works in the cafeteria, sweeping and washing tables after lunch.

Junior Keelin Kelly previously attended St. Anthony School and is excited to have a sibling coming to Marian this fall. She said she works hard in all her classes and received last year’s Bernadette Scholars award. She enjoys art and weightlifting. When instructional aide Cynthia Spalding told Quinn and Kelly that she had a challenging worksheet for them, Kelly exclaimed, “I like challenging.” Quinn admitted, “I don’t.”

Throughout the past five years, Kirzeder said, the Bernadette Scholars program has enriched not only those students participating in the program, but the school community as a whole. “It gives our students practice in loving people who may not look or act like they do,” Kirzeder said. “And they have certainly risen to the challenge, not only accepting but accompanying these students, learning from them as well as teaching them, and growing in friendship. Isn’t that the Gospel in a nutshell?”