St. Benedict Catholic School

📸: Kerr family
Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven

Our annual SBCS golf tournament benefitting SBCS athletics and our PE program is less than four weeks away. Please contact us if you are interested in playing or being a sponsor!
⛳️ 🌱 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS

🎉 SBCS Staff Goodbyes 🎉
𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐥 came to St. Benedict Catholic School in 2023, shortly after she and her husband, Dcn. Pat Hirl moved into town as he took a position at Benedictine College, working alongside their daughter, Katie. We were thrilled when Mrs. Hirl joined the staff, bringing her wealth of knowledge in not just math and religion, but also how to develop strong, caring, faith-filled relationships with students and families.

Our students came to appreciate Mrs. Hirl's approach of embracing the learning process, which included recognizing and learning from one's mistakes (including her own). The students came to really enjoy math through the many projects that they did along with Fun Math Fridays ("Fun Math Fridays were actually fun," a student once remarked). Mrs. Hirl was also an excellent religion teacher, encouraing her students to ask her hard questions and to think deeply about their relationship with the Lord and how that translated in how they treated each other. Students not only learned a lot about content in Mrs. Hirl's classes--which included the 7th grade Religion class, math, and a variety of electives, such as Female Saints, Classic Games, Needlework, and Intervention--but they also learned a lot about themselves, how to be better students and friends, and were also reminded by Mrs. Hirl that they are all "beloved sons and daughters of God."

Additionally, Mrs. Hirl was an amazing friend and colleague to the teachers and staff at St. Benedict Catholic School. We were all saddened when Mrs. Hirl decided to step down, but we are also incredibly happy that she will be able to spend time with her family, including her grandson Jerome and family in Minnesota.🙏 Mrs. Hirl, you have been such a blessing to our school. We hope and pray that you enjoy your well-deserved retirement! 🎉
🥲 🙏 💗 Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS

Happy ordination anniversary, Fr. Jeremy! We are grateful for you and for all that you do for our school!
🙏 💗

🎉 SBCS Staff Goodbyes 🎉
𝐌𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 joined the St. Benedict Catholic School staff for the 2024-25 school year, but she was very familiar with SBCS before then. Ms. Brown attended Benedictine College, where she double majored in Elementary and Special Education, and she loved how vibrant and faith-filled our school is. She was thrilled to work at SBCS as our Resource teacher.

Since then, Ms. Brown has done a wonderful job developing relationships, especially with our elementary students and teachers. The students who work with Ms. Brown love her patience, sweet demeanor, and determination to help them improve and gain confidence in themselves.

We are so grateful for all the work Ms. Brown has done as our Resource teacher and we are sad to see her go. However, we are incredibly excited for her as she prepares to have her own classroom, teaching a classical 2nd and 3rd grade combo class at St. John Paul II Catholic School in Overland Park. We are hoping and praying for a great start to this next step in Ms. Brown's educational career! 🙏
🥲 🙏 💗 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven

Talent Show post 2/2 One of our favorite end-of-the-year traditions is that the 7th class performs a skit for the Talent Show. This year, the 7th grade class put together a performance entitled, "A Day in the Life of Mr. Lunsford," which gave us a glimpse of the many funny and memorable things that happen in each our teachers' classrooms, from favorite activities, catchphrases, and more.

At the end of the our Talent Show, we also said goodbye to two of our beloved teachers who are leaving St. Benedict Catholic School, Ms. Anna Brown and Mrs. Denise Hirl. 🥲 After Mr. Lunsford shared how important Ms. Brown and Mrs. Hirl have been to our school over the past few years, some of their students gifted each of them presents that will benefit them in their next step in life. We'll highlight Ms. Brown and Mrs. Hirl separately in a future post, but in the meantime, please feel free to share with them your gratitude and to pray for them.
📸: Irene Schramp, Mrs. Schramp
🙏 💗 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven 🎤🎭💃

Talent Show post 1/2: On this Feast of St. Philip Neri we think about the ways God has blessed us and how we can use those gifts, like our talents, to bring others to the Lord. Our students and staff definitely showed off their various talents when we finished the 2025-26 school year earlier this month with our annual Talent Show, from their athletic abilities, showing off skating, gymnastics, and basketball skills; their comedic abilites, as we saw several stand-up performances; their natural musical talents, as they performed songs on the piano, clarinet, and saxophone; dancing skills, from Irish step to pop; and so much more! Our teachers even got involved, as they closed out the Talent Show with their own skit.
Congratulations to the winners of the Talent Show in the categories of athletic, musical, and comedic performances: Maddie Hall, Hogan Cox, and the 7th grade class. Great job to all of our talented students!
🙏 💗 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven 🎤🎭💃

"In honor of our three years together, I want to give you three of the saints who have guided me on my path— and three phrases that might help guide your own path forward.... Be intentional like Joan, be conscientious like Benedict, and fill your heart with love like Mary’s. Tuck in your shirts, eat your vegetables, and be kind to your mothers." These words of advice, given by PE teacher and Athletic Director Mrs. Abby Bartlett followed an incredibly heartfelt, vulnerable speech that touched every single student, parent, and staff member in the church. (A full copy of Coach Bartlett's speech is on the school website: https://www.stbenedictcatholicschool.org/news/three-saints-and-phrases-to-guide-you-forward)
It was very appropriate considering how much the SBCS Class of 2026 has left an impression on every one they have reached. They are examples of how to be loyal, good friends, and to be passionate people, and this sentiment was echoed from Fr. Jeremy's homily, 8th grader Savanna Smith's graduation speech, Coach Bartlett's speech, and their goodbyes to each other at the reception.
During the graduation ceremony, a number of students earned awards during the ceremony:
𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧: Avery Galley, Tori Beagle, Abraham Kemnitz, James Maderak
𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐒𝐀𝐀 – 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: Alex Staib & Bella Hill
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: Jack Parker
𝐌𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥-𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 – 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: Joseph Ramage
Congratulations, 8th graders! 🎉 We are grateful for the time we had with you at SBCS. As Savanna advised in her graduation speech, "Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential." We pray that you continue to seek out God's will for you and that you continue to lean on each other and on the Holy Spirit during your journey in high school and beyond!
🎓 🙏 💗 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven

At the end of our Passing of the Light ceremony earlier this week, the light of the leadership of the school was passed on from the 8th graders to the 7th graders. After this beautiful ceremony, our 7th graders cheered on the rest of the students as the younger students left the church. With 8th grade graduation last night, the 7th graders are now ready to step up and lead the school and show the younger students how to .
Today the 7th graders will continue the tradition of performing a class skit at the Talent Show, which begins at 10am. We're excited to see this group of students show us what they can do!
📸: Leah Hansen, Ruby Merrill, Mrs. Schramp
🎓 🙏 💗 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven 🕯

On Tuesday, Mrs. Ronnebaum shared our memories of the 8th graders as they were greeted by their prayer partners in our annual Passing of the Light ceremony. As we heard from these dedications, these young men and women have left such an impression on our school, from our youngest students to our teachers and administrators. Afterwards, the 8th graders passed on the light to the 7th graders, entrusting the leadership of the school to this next class. It was a heartfelt, beautiful, and tearful ceremony.
Please pray for the 8th graders as they prepare for graduation tonight. Mass begins at 6:30pm at St. Benedict Church, with the graduation ceremony immediately following the end of Mass. St. Benedict, pray for us!
📸: Leah Hansen, Ruby Merrill, Mrs. Schramp
🎓 🙏 💗 Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS Catholic Education Foundation - Kansas The Leaven