Parsons’ St. Patrick Catholic School flourishes thanks to united vision

Autumn Carson’s gratitude for Catholic schools runs both deep and wide. Not only does it encompass the dedication of faculty, staff, and volunteers whose work fuels such institutions, but also the generosity of the faithful who include parishioners whose financial contributions help keep the lights on even if they do not have – and maybe have never had – children attending those schools.

Carson, who is principal of St. Patrick Catholic School in Parsons, is especially grateful for the extent to which Catholic schools not only help foster students’ worldly success, but how they also can help shape their eternal destinies. 

Experience as an educator in both public and private schools helps her appreciate the broader – and often subtle – additional resources on offer at St. Patrick’s versus some of the other schools at which she once taught, Carson relates. Although many of the school’s tangible resources often are stretched thin, she reflects, the intangible ones are powerful.

“We don’t have a lot, but everybody is willing to come together and give what they have,” she said. “We often are short-staffed because it can be difficult to recruit people to a small community like Parsons, but our teachers and staff are amazing and willing to work. We all wear a lot of hats and I see that with the families too. Everyone is united in our mission.”

That contrasts with her memories of teaching first grade at a public school in a different town that often ranked at or near the bottom of Kansas income levels. In those days, when she encountered signs of abuse, neglect or severe material want, her options to respond were severely limited.

“It was heart wrenching to see what a lot of those kids endured, and my hands were tied,” Carson said. “I could go home and pray for them, but I couldn’t comfort or help by communicating anything about my faith to them.”

It also broke her heart to witness so many of her students and their families struggle with poverty on paths that suggested only more of the same ahead, she said, which helps her better appreciate St. Patrick’s strong community.

“Our school families and parish come together to support families in need,” Carson said. “Donors make sure kids that need new school uniforms, supplies and anything else are always taken care of.”

And ultimately, she reiterates, such stewardship changes lives, but Catholic schools’ holistic approach to forming the entire person seeks to not only educate them, but help them become happy and holy. That also flows from the surrounding parish community. “Many of our parishioners are not only committed to making sure we have what we need financially, but they are at daily Mass and in adoration praying for us,” Carson said, “They are really committed to making sure we have what we need to continue nurturing our faith.”

Personal
Journey

Growing up a Southern Baptist girl in Riverton, Carson indicates her earliest impressions of Catholic schools revolved around St. Mary-Colgan’s sporting success. As an athlete who competed in softball, basketball, volleyball, and especially track, at a public high school that enjoyed its own hard-earned reputation as a Southeast Kansas athletic powerhouse, it was hard not to be impressed by – but also a bit cynical about – that Catholic school in Pittsburg.

She now chuckles at those perceptions. “In the culture of Southeast Kansas, Colgan was always dominating in sports,” she said. “From the outside looking in, it seemed more like the kind of place for people who had money or who were really into sports.”

By college, however, Carson said ties, friendships and relationships with sincere Catholics drew her to the church and she was confirmed as a Catholic before the end of her freshman year. “I was at Pitt State and met some of my greatest friends at the Newman Center there,” she said. “I just fell in love with the Catholic Church.”

An additional love followed the next year in the form a fellow PSU Catholic named Tim. Later, when the two were married, the wedding was held at St. Patrick’s, since Tim grew up in that parish. They now have three children, 22-year-old Grace, 20-year-old Gavin and 15-year-old Jackson.

While her husband pursued a career in construction, Carson’s career in education included a stint teaching first grade at St. Mary’s in Pittsburg, where she came to appreciate the extent to which the surrounding faith community helped to make the town’s Catholic schools what they were. 

“The love for and commitment to their faith was eye-opening,” she said. “That’s where I really fell in love with Catholic schools. I recognized the beauty, but because I had not grown up Catholic, I also loved learning so much about the sacraments and our faith in that environment. I appreciated attending Mass with my students throughout the week, and was thankful to be able to have those discussions about God and our faith that you cannot have in a public school.” 

When her husband’s flourishing career took the family to the Kansas City area, Carson took a job teaching sixth grade social studies and coaching basketball and volleyball at a public middle school. Although her family actively practiced its faith, she missed life in a Catholic school, and it turned out she was not the only one.

“When we lived in the Kansas City area, we could not afford the tuition to send our kids to Catholic school,” Carson said. “We just could not make it happen.” 

One February night during her ninth-grade year, Grace came to her parents. “She said, ‘Mom and Dad, I miss being part of the Catholic school in Pittsburg.”

Although it made more financial sense for the family to remain in the Kansas City area, by the time Grace started the 10th grade, they were back in the Wichita diocese, where she and her siblings were attending Catholic schools. 

“We knew what we were missing and what the kids were missing, and you cannot replicate it,” Carson said. “It was that important, so we moved back.”

Carson’s first job upon their return was teaching at another public school, but by 2021 she applied for and was hired as the principal at St. Patrick’s. Immediately, she said, the parish and school’s tight-knit culture was apparent.

“The incredible community of families really stood out,” she said. “It is not a big school. We have 91 kids, a little more than 40 families, and it takes everyone to make this place work. A handful of those families really stand out in their willingness to sacrifice so much and are always involved with providing what we need.”

That, along with regaining the ability to reintegrate her faith into her profession, constitutes what Carson enjoys most about her job. “Absolutely my favorite part is getting to live my faith and share it with our students,” she said.

And although the school’s Catholic culture is evident in a variety of ways, Carson cites the example of particularly light-hearted moment. She notes that St. Patrick’s pastor, Fr. Nic Jurgensmeyer, often is accompanied to the school by “Associate Pawster” Rocco, a black lab. 

“The kids absolutely adore Rocco,” Carson said. “Fr. Nic held a blessing of the animals, and there were animals of all kinds, from dogs and cats to chickens. At the end, Fr. Nic started barking to interpret for the dogs. It was great.”