Blessed & Broken

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The Feast of the Archangels is always a notable event at the Mount but this year it had much greater significance than usual.   This day marked the groundbreaking and blessing of the site for The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building.  Many guests were in attendance including school board members, donors, families and friends. Of special note was the presence of Peggy Sokol the mother of DJ Sokol ‘99 in whose memory the building is named.

Archbishop Lucas Blesses The Building Site 

Because of a larger crowd for this year’s special events the feast day Mass was held in the Gymnasium instead of the Chapel.  Archbishop George Lucas was the celebrant for the Eucharist.  During the service the Archbishop also mandated 6 students as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. They were juniors Zach Cairney, Jean-Marie Djidjoho, Joe Coldiron, Patrick Halpin, Drew Goddard, and Michael Ecker.

After Mass everyone proceeded to the construction site.  For the blessing the students stood along an outline of the school as the Archbishop sprinkled holy water at the future entrance.  Students then were each given vials of holy water and dispersed to sprinkle holy water throughout the site.   The student kept the vials as mementos of the occasion.

In the evening a large crowd again gathered at the construction site this time for a ground breaking ceremony.  Numerous talks were giving noting the school history and thanking supporters past and present for making Mount Michael the great school that it is.  Peggy Sokol was presented with a framed rendition of the architects drawing of The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building.  Many of DJ’s classmates from 1999 posed with Mrs. Sokol for a photograph.

Formal Ground Breaking Ceremony 

Ten individuals partook of the formal ground breaking ceremony representing various parts of the Mount Michael community.  They were Andrew Collins ’01, President of the Alumni Assoc.; Greg Stieren ’00 of BCDM, Todd Rohweder, School Board President; Michael Fischer ’16, Student Council President; Dr. David Peters, Head of School; Peggy Sokol, Abbot Michael ’68, Fr. Daniel Hendrickson ’89, President of Creighton University; Jim Classe ’84 of Prochaska & Associates, and John Levy representing DJ’s class of 1999.

At the conclusion of the formal ceremony students, faculty and families broke out their shovels to turn a little dirt!

The current construction timeline calls for finalized plans by the end of October with construction bids going out in November.  Some preliminary ground work might be done this fall but the actual construction start is slated for March.  The goal is for completion for the 2017-2018 school year. The Architects for The DJ Sokol Learning for Life Building are Prochaska & Associates and BCDM.

More Photos:   Mass & Blessing - Ground Breaking - Ground Breaking Photos by Nellie