[0:09] hey welcome to the latest edition of [0:12] Mayor About Town i am Andrew Mullen [0:14] mayor of Weisetta uh coming to you from [0:17] St bart's Church in the basement today [0:20] and on today's show featuring Kevin Ward [0:23] from IOCP Ryan Carlson from Weisetta [0:26] West Middle School and Father Clockman [0:29] from St bart's Church this is the show [0:32] where we feature the people places and [0:35] organizations that make Weisetta special [0:37] today we're here with Kevin Ward the [0:39] director of IOCP which is Interfaith [0:41] Outreach and Community Partners he's led [0:43] the organization since 2020 and he has [0:46] served in various nonprofit and business [0:49] leadership roles throughout her career [0:51] welcome to the show Kevin my pleasure [0:53] let me first of all say congratulations [0:55] ah thank you thank you appreciate that [0:57] Kevin yeah for sure maybe we'll just [0:59] start with maybe a little bit of [1:00] background the organization you lead and [1:02] then we'll drill into a little bit more [1:04] about you absolutely so Interfaith [1:07] Outreach and Community Partners also [1:09] known as ILCP in our local community [1:11] we've been around for 46 years wow and [1:14] ironically enough where we're taping [1:16] right now is in the basement of St barts [1:19] this is where it all started 46 years [1:22] ago really with a vision to do [1:24] coordinated response to some of the need [1:26] that was showing up in our community [1:28] okay and um you've been uh leading the [1:31] organization since 2020 tell us a little [1:34] bit about the people that you serve and [1:36] the types of services that you offer uh [1:38] members of our community absolutely so [1:40] we serve anyone who comes to us with a [1:43] need and meet meet the qualifications [1:45] for us responding to that need and the [1:48] way that our services break down think [1:49] of it like this basic needs which are [1:53] food clothing housing shelter and we [1:56] also talk about safety being a a basic [1:59] need too okay and then we have stability [2:01] because we want people to be stable in [2:03] our community those are things like [2:06] transportation we help folks find jobs [2:09] we have a [2:11] um early childhood education we have um [2:16] where we work with um families on the [2:19] mental health side and we think [2:22] that when you have a coordinated effort [2:25] and those programs working together it [2:27] helps [2:28] families to respond to whatever is [2:31] showing up in their lives oh wow so uh [2:35] sort of part of your name is interface [2:37] so it sounds like you know as you said [2:39] it started in the faith-based community [2:41] can you talk a little bit about the [2:42] history of IOCP and its connection to [2:44] Weisetta yeah for sure so we started our [2:48] our f founder uh Ladonna Hoy um I call [2:51] her one of Weisetta's saints [2:54] yeah she she's awesome and and still [2:56] engaged in the work um but it [3:00] started seeing a need in the community [3:03] and rather than having someone who's in [3:05] need go to this church or go to that [3:08] church or go to this church go to that [3:09] church the idea was how could we pull [3:12] the resources together in a coordinated [3:15] organized fashion [3:18] that then could respond to that need and [3:20] then it wasn't just on each one of those [3:23] faith communities but it was them coming [3:27] together in a coordinated way to respond [3:30] and we've been doing that for 46 years [3:32] amazing yeah so one of the events that [3:35] you hold every year that's near and dear [3:36] to my heart is uh the the night sleepout [3:40] yeah so so I used to live for 11 years [3:43] next door to Shoe Bob Fiser and he's one [3:45] of the I think the the originators of [3:47] that event but but maybe talk a little [3:49] bit about um kind of the ways that you [3:51] engage the community to support IOCP [3:53] yeah so the sleepout um has been a very [3:57] successful campaign for us and the idea [4:00] was to bring awareness to the community [4:03] oftentimes in our community because [4:04] we're in the suburbs there's this idea [4:07] that there's no poverty here well that's [4:10] not true because we served 5,000 [4:12] individuals last year wow and so that [4:14] just gives you an idea but it was a way [4:16] to bring an awareness [4:19] to some of the things that people [4:21] struggle with when they're unhoused and [4:24] so the sleepout was a campaign where [4:26] folks could have an opportunity to go [4:28] out they would pitch a tent the kids [4:31] would sleep in boxes and since then um [4:34] we've evolved that we continue to evolve [4:37] that to talk about just having a budget [4:40] work for the family and sometimes you [4:43] know out here you don't see a lot of [4:45] people sleeping out but what what [4:48] happens is they can't pay the rent or [4:52] bam something happens the car breaks [4:54] down and now they found themselves [4:56] needing transportation and so um that's [5:00] where it started and that's how it [5:01] continues to evolve in our community and [5:04] then um you know you started in Weisetta [5:07] but you're technically in Plymouth now [5:08] can you just uh tell our uh viewing [5:10] audience a little bit where you're [5:11] located and the types of services that [5:13] are at 6 and 101 yeah for sure so we [5:16] started [5:17] again Wisetta in the basement of St [5:20] barts and then we went down [5:23] um Wisetta and we were in a little small [5:26] place there um I think they moved that [5:28] building from St barts down there [5:29] actually and so um about 14 15 years ago [5:33] we moved out to 1016 where we currently [5:37] are and our programs have just expanded [5:41] um so when you someone's in need and [5:43] they come you know a lot of times [5:45] they're they're coming to the food shelf [5:47] and sometimes that food shelf is an [5:49] indicator that something else isn't [5:51] working in their budget and then once [5:54] they come to that they have [5:56] access in our service area to some of [5:59] the other programs in which we offer [6:02] okay [6:02] um but it's a place where you know one [6:06] of the things I love about this [6:08] community interfaith it is literally [6:11] neighbors taking care of neighbors [6:14] that's neat um so you know IOCP's been [6:18] fortunate to have you leading the [6:19] organization since 2020 but uh so you're [6:22] widely known in the greater Weisetta [6:24] area but for those who aren't familiar [6:25] with you maybe just give a little bit [6:26] about uh your background and and um in [6:29] addition to IOCP for sure so I I um been [6:33] here four and a four four and a half [6:34] years and I have a very interesting [6:36] background of for-profit and nonprofit [6:39] but um before I came here I was working [6:41] for a youth organization working on the [6:44] emotional social um parts of of youth [6:47] and um I bring a lot of different you [6:50] know all the way from association [6:52] management to nonprofit to for-profit [6:55] and you know what I really enjoy in my [6:59] role [7:01] is how do we accomplish this mission and [7:04] this vision of the [7:06] organization with everyone being a part [7:08] of that and so um there's a saying it [7:12] doesn't matter where you came from it [7:15] only matters where you are and right now [7:17] I'm firmly planted in this community [7:19] trying to make a difference well we're [7:21] we're fortunate to have you Kevin and [7:23] thanks for being on the show appreciate [7:25] it very much absolutely hey today we're [7:27] with Ryan Carlson who's the principal of [7:29] Weisetta West Middle School here in [7:31] Weisetta it's actually the only I just [7:33] learned today the only Weisetta public [7:35] school in city proper of Weisetta but [7:38] you're also my next door neighbor i live [7:40] right next door to you on Barry Avenue [7:42] uh Ryan comes to us from Adina Public [7:44] Schools i guess first I'd like to hear a [7:46] little bit about kind of your role in [7:48] leading Wisetta West yeah this is my [7:51] fifth year as principal at Weisetta West [7:55] um just really feel really fortunate to [7:58] to lead um such a great school and such [8:01] a great community and and school [8:02] district um in our building we've got [8:05] 850 kids that just bring the fun and the [8:08] energy every day um I feel like we learn [8:10] from them every day um and it's just [8:13] amazing to see their excitement their [8:16] engagement uh and their potential okay [8:18] and it's grades six seven and eight [8:20] right yep grades six through eight uh we [8:22] have about 850 students this year yep uh [8:25] Wisette is a growing school district so [8:27] over the next couple years we expect to [8:29] grow to around 1,00,50 students um and [8:33] we're actually undergoing some [8:35] renovation um this summer we have uh a [8:38] large locker room space um that we'll be [8:40] converting a lot of that space into a a [8:42] music suite um that will give us some [8:45] more room um to work with in the coming [8:48] years yeah maybe um give us a little bit [8:50] of history of Wisetta West i know the [8:52] original uh elementary school or [8:54] actually it might have been K through 8 [8:55] was Winston and then uh was at a west [8:58] used to be the high school right so tell [9:00] us a little bit about when it was built [9:01] and its history and how it got to be the [9:03] middle school it is today yep so uh it [9:06] was built in 1951 okay um which when I [9:08] tell our our students that they were [9:10] designing this school in the 1940s it [9:12] blows their mind oh I bet um and to [9:14] think about how it's how well it's [9:16] functioned over that time um but so it [9:18] was a it started off as Weetta High [9:20] School um transitioned to Weisetta [9:23] Junior High and eventually Weisetta West [9:25] Middle School um and during that time um [9:30] you know the district has grown [9:31] tremendously to being one of the the [9:34] largest districts in the state but I [9:35] love even doing the the as we think [9:38] through the locker room renovation I've [9:39] given tours of different schoolboard [9:41] members um community members to show off [9:44] that space and it's um it's like going [9:46] back in time a little bit it feels like [9:48] a little back to the future um you go in [9:50] and there's lockers still in our locker [9:52] room from when the high school football [9:54] team has a locker room so you can see [9:56] who was the captain who was the coach so [9:58] Oh that's kind of cool kind of a cool [9:59] history piece so as we're as we're [10:01] looking at renovating we're like "Okay [10:02] what pieces do we need to pull out and [10:03] kind of celebrate pieces of our [10:05] history?" [10:06] So for for uh Weisetta folks that are [10:09] not familiar with Weisetta West tell us [10:11] a little bit about your your educational [10:13] philosophy and and what the school [10:15] stands for or what you're you're known [10:17] for i mean obviously you're you know [10:19] teaching the basics but but what what [10:21] what do you what would you want West to [10:23] be known for i guess there's a couple [10:25] things that that stand out um I think [10:27] one thing we're a school that really [10:28] focuses on the student experience and [10:30] student agency we want students to own [10:33] their learning and be given [10:34] opportunities to make choices and be key [10:36] drivers of their learning we education [10:39] shouldn't be just something that's done [10:40] to our students they need to be an [10:42] active participant in their learning [10:44] asking questions thinking about the next [10:46] thing they need to do for their learning [10:48] so we do things all the time to help [10:49] them build those skills because when [10:51] they come to us as middle schoolers [10:52] those aren't skills they automatically [10:54] just have um and even as adults I would [10:57] say we you know we make decisions for [10:58] our learning that sometimes don't go [11:00] well for us and we learn from those [11:01] experiences so I think that's part of [11:02] the the beauty of middle school is we [11:04] want to give them chances to make [11:06] decisions and then have them reflect on [11:08] that experience and then make a better [11:10] decision in the future obviously we need [11:12] to help guide those choices at times um [11:14] but I would say student agency is a big [11:16] piece another thing in our building is [11:18] we want to create a community of [11:19] learners and community of leaders um so [11:22] when I was in junior high um you know we [11:26] had a student council of probably five [11:27] or six kids that were kind of the [11:28] student leaders of the building we have [11:30] student leadership groups throughout the [11:32] building that over 300 of our students [11:34] participate in in some way um so that [11:36] the goal is to have them in a third of [11:38] your population yeah exactly and kids [11:40] want they love that the experience of [11:43] leading and following their passions mhm [11:46] um so uh today's uh show about uh town [11:50] with the mayor is we're bringing uh [11:52] nonprofits uh educational institutions [11:54] and faith-based uh I learned from uh [11:57] Kevin Ward that uh you've done some work [12:00] with IOCP getting kids to kind of work [12:02] with them can you talk a little bit [12:03] about that partnership with IOCP yeah [12:05] that really came from again our our [12:07] student leaders they we've always done a [12:09] food drive um often to support IOCP and [12:12] this year um we had a group of students [12:15] that said "We we can do better than than [12:18] we've done." And rather than teachers [12:20] leading it and kind of just being a [12:21] boring food drive and telling kids to [12:23] bring in food they went off of the the [12:25] Hunger Games book series and movies and [12:27] so they titled our food drive the Hung [12:29] and Hunger Games food drive okay and [12:32] each um advisory group um was put into a [12:36] district and districts were supposed to [12:37] bring certain types of food items and [12:39] then there was tributes at a pepfest [12:41] that we had um and it just increased the [12:43] the excitement around it um and we were [12:45] able to donate a ton of food um to IOCP [12:49] and that's just kind of one of examples [12:51] actually one of our with our student [12:52] leadership groups they have helped [12:55] really give back to the community so um [12:57] in the fall early winter we did a drive [13:02] for Team Tucker okay um and we raised [13:04] over $17,000 um and team Tucker's an [13:07] organization that that really supports [13:10] the uh families of people who are going [13:13] through treatments for cancer um and you [13:15] know whether they their family needs to [13:17] go on a vacation or you know just help [13:20] pay the mortgage um we raised over [13:21] $17,000 to help team Tucker um we also [13:25] that another student leadership group [13:27] our unified group um put on a polar [13:30] plunge event in our parking lot where we [13:33] had students and staff members that's [13:34] what all that noise was jumping into [13:35] freezing cold water you probably you [13:37] probably saw it and wanted to maybe [13:38] avoid it well or jump in um but uh yeah [13:42] we raised over 10,000 for Special [13:43] Olympics Minnesota with that and again [13:45] these are things you know we've we've [13:47] had you know different fundraisers and [13:49] events where we try to donate um and [13:52] just putting students in the driver's [13:53] seat of that has made it that much more [13:55] impactful and we've been able to raise [13:58] way more money than we could wow when I [13:59] need help with my next campaign I I [14:01] think I've got an untapped audience oh [14:03] my gosh the student leaders are they're [14:05] incredible no it is amazing so um tell [14:08] us a little bit about your background [14:09] obviously you came to us from Edina [14:10] Public Schools but obviously you've been [14:12] in education for some time y can you [14:14] talk a little bit about your personal [14:15] background and how you found your way to [14:17] Wisetta yeah so this is my 24th year as [14:20] a middle school educator college thank [14:23] you um 22 years old and I was hired in [14:25] Eastern Carver County Schools um and [14:27] taught physical education and health [14:29] okay for 10 years um and kind of worked [14:31] my way up into administration i got my [14:34] principal license um became a dean of [14:36] students um I moved for a year into the [14:39] community of Chicago Lakes where I was [14:41] assistant principal there for a year [14:43] opportunity to open an inina and I was [14:45] there for six years and that really [14:47] helped kind of grow my skill set um and [14:50] then had the fortune to come here [14:51] interviewed in Weisetta kind of during [14:53] the heart of the pandemic so it was [14:55] spring of 2020 um did multiple rounds of [14:59] interviews all via Zoom um which was [15:01] something I had never experienced in all [15:03] my other interview i can't even imagine [15:04] i have two uh family members that are [15:06] teachers and boy what you guys had to go [15:09] through in teaching in in the pandemic [15:11] had been very challenging a monumental [15:13] shift during that time and even you know [15:14] to think about making a a move um and [15:18] yet we was one of those places that I [15:20] looked at I'm like okay this feels right [15:22] um I really enjoyed my time in Edina and [15:25] because of that I could be a little bit [15:26] pickier with where I wanted to end up [15:28] and when it opened it seemed like a [15:29] perfect fit well thanks for choosing [15:31] Weisetta and thanks for coming on the [15:33] show today i really appreciate it good [15:34] to be with you yep thank you so much [15:35] thank you today we're here with Father [15:37] John Kman from St barts and uh you've [15:40] been here since 2021 and ordained as a [15:42] priest I believe in 2000 that's correct [15:45] and you've had a wide variety of roles [15:48] before becoming a priest which we'll get [15:49] to in a minute but you're widely known [15:52] as a individual with great expertise on [15:55] Catholicism so we'll be talking about [15:56] that a little bit today so welcome to [15:58] the show first let's start with the [16:00] organization you lead tell me a little [16:02] bit about St bart's uh school and church [16:04] and and you know kind of how you fit [16:06] into the community of Wisetta sure as [16:08] you said I came here in 2021 i am the [16:11] pastor here at St bartholomew Catholic [16:13] Church and School the church was [16:15] established in 1916 oh wow by 12 [16:18] families who raised $500 to build the [16:21] first church the current church is the [16:24] third church on this uh current site no [16:26] kidding and uh they paid that off in [16:29] five years oh my $500 built a whole [16:32] church back in 1916 the the school was [16:35] uh built in [16:37] 1956 first as a um uh just one story [16:42] then they added a second story and a [16:43] third story so we've been here for over [16:46] a hundred years and uh happy to be a [16:48] part of the community yeah so tell tell [16:50] me a little bit more about the school [16:51] like uh what grades does it serve and [16:53] and how does it fit into you know St [16:56] bart's model to serve the community sure [16:59] it's had a long history since 1956 uh [17:02] it's really is a prek [17:05] through fifth grade uh most people go on [17:08] then to junior high right and so um it's [17:13] been uh we by this coming fall will be a [17:18] the second only Catholic school in the [17:20] whole state of Minnesota that'll be C [17:23] steam Catholic steam okay or Catholic [17:25] STEM yep yep the A being for steam being [17:28] arts okay uh accredited in the state of [17:31] Minnesota wow that's an amazing [17:32] accomplishment it is an amazing acco [17:34] accomplishment so that's great we're [17:36] happy um you happen to be right across [17:39] the street from Weisetta City Hall but I [17:41] know that St barts does a lot in our [17:43] community beyond church and school so [17:45] talk a little bit about all the [17:47] different outreach that St barts has [17:49] here in the community of Weisetta oh [17:51] there's so much i mean you had Kevin [17:52] Ward earlier on and and Kevin is the uh [17:56] uh the successor for Leadana Hoy okay [17:59] and she IOCP was started here in the [18:02] basement wow of St bartholomew and then [18:06] with other Christian bodies and [18:08] non-Christian bodies saw the need for [18:11] outreach for various different people [18:13] who are in need in our local community [18:15] in the western suburbs and started that [18:17] that organization we do that we have a [18:20] sister parish a Holy Rosary and St [18:22] stevens in South Minneapolis which is [18:25] primarily a Latino uh congregation um we [18:30] also have Feed My Starving Children [18:32] we've got Stevens Ministry Feeding the [18:34] Poor uh affordable housing initiatives a [18:37] whole variety of things that St barts [18:39] does out of the desire of our heart to [18:42] reach the wider community for Christ but [18:45] also just to meet human needs that's [18:49] amazing yeah um you know was not that [18:52] big of a town you know it's just under [18:54] 5,000 people but I believe there's six [18:56] or seven faith-based communities and the [18:59] history is very deep can you talk a [19:01] little bit about the interfaith [19:02] community within Weisetta [19:05] sure you know when I first arrived in [19:07] 2021 there was this whole change of uh [19:11] pastors here uh Protestant and Catholic [19:15] so we're all still getting to know each [19:17] other most of us have been here uh as [19:20] far as our communities faith-based [19:22] communities oh for over a hundred years [19:25] and [19:26] so when St barts arrived as I said 12 [19:29] families $500 built a church uh 1916 [19:35] this was a little fishing village there [19:37] wasn't much here right sure that's right [19:39] and we've been here as a presence of [19:41] faith ever since then so we love to [19:44] collaborate with other faith-based and [19:46] non-faith-based people so we can uh [19:49] accelerate and uh collaborate and meet [19:52] the needs of the local community that's [19:54] amazing so you've been here now about 5 [19:57] years and somewhat of a tough question [19:59] but you you you talked about a vast [20:01] amount of different programs what are [20:02] you most proud of maybe recently that [20:05] the the church has brought into our [20:07] community [20:08] i would say twofold one would be IOCP [20:10] which has a long history and very [20:13] grateful that it started in the basement [20:14] here at St bartholomew but also are are [20:18] being credited as a sea steam uh [20:21] Catholic school as I said earlier second [20:24] only in state of Minnesota and that is [20:27] uh it meets the needs of our students [20:29] that our our class sizes are smaller but [20:32] it's individual individualized uh [20:35] teaching and meeting the needs of kids [20:38] that perhaps [20:40] uh understand and grow in their [20:42] education in different ways so See is [20:46] really meant to uh focus in on that and [20:49] recognizing also that parents are the [20:51] first teachers of their children as you [20:53] know as a father right yeah absolutely [20:55] well this happens to be uh one of the [20:57] places that I worship and so I'm a [20:59] member here at St barts and I've been [21:01] good to get to know you and one of the [21:03] things that that that I've started [21:05] working on with you is bringing a prayer [21:07] breakfast to Weisetta so we have a [21:09] statewide prayer breakfast and I'm [21:11] hopeful that we and others in our [21:13] community can start a prayer breakfast [21:15] of of public and private coming together [21:17] around a faith-based table i really [21:19] think there's a a desire for that i mean [21:22] as I said earlier that there are a lot [21:25] of pastors Protestant Catholic perhaps [21:29] non-Christian that have uh evolved and [21:34] been sent or accredited whatever word [21:37] you want to use toetta in the western [21:40] suburbs who'd like to get to know each [21:42] other but we're all busy right and when [21:44] we have a prayer breakfast we can get [21:46] together with each other and get to know [21:47] one another yeah well I look forward to [21:49] working with you on that and and [21:51] establishing a prayer breakfast here in [21:52] Wisetta and our goal is to have it live [21:55] by springtime next year so I really look [21:57] forward to working with you on that [21:58] thank you very much for coming on the [22:00] show and more importantly for hosting us [22:02] today in this beautiful building you [22:04] know took a little tour with you today [22:05] it's a wonderful place and you were very [22:08] generous to open your doors to to our [22:09] show today so thank you well any pastor [22:12] would say anyone's welcome to come here [22:15] whether it's St barts or any other [22:17] church any other community and uh [22:20] collaborate with us and the good work [22:22] that we do yeah for the greater good of [22:25] the world well thanks for coming on the [22:26] show today appreciate it thank you [22:29] thanks for tuning in today for another [22:30] edition of Mayor About Town uh where we [22:33] feature the people the places and the [22:35] organizations that make Weisetta special [22:38] remember to support local and strengthen [22:40] Weisetta and we'll see you about town [22:55] [Applause] [22:58] heat heat [23:03] [Music]