[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]