Jolene Wojcik

Jolene and Tim Wojcik

Central Catholic is bursting with magnificent women. 

They fill our classrooms, offices, cafeteria and weight room. Most of them grow babies in their wombs, push them out at the appropriate time, and spend the rest of their lives worrying about them. Women do anything for their kids, and at Central Catholic - whether we are mothers or not - they're all our kids.

One particular GICC lady is my personal hero. She's also impossible. I've wanted to blog about Jolene Wojcik, our development director, for several years now. But she won't let me.

"We'll do a story sometime," she waves me away. "But not now. I hate the attention. Some day."

Some day is now. I'm retiring in a month and with or without permission, I'm writing about Jolene Wojcik. What can she do, fire me? (This is my new favorite mantra.) 

Jolene was brought to us courtesy of the Holy Spirit. I believe this about all our development directors. Each of them was challenged with a special mission, and it's never easy. Now it's Jolene's turn, and on her watch, the Lord issued specific instructions to build a Catholic grade school.

Wojcik family from left: Sean Grubish (Taylor's
fiance), Tim, Taylor, Jolene, Jessica Wojcik 
Kilchriste, Neil Kilchriste

Just to be clear, development directors are so busy raising money and keeping our school afloat that there is virtually no time to be gadding about building grade schools. I know all about this because my classroom is directly across from the Development Office. The place is constantly a buzz with feasibility studies, visiting donors, and endless phone calls. That's on a good day. When our annual fundraiser "The Knight" rolls around, you'd hardly recognize the place. It becomes a hording store house for auction gift items. Other remarkable women like Jean Hamik, Kellie Weyers and Stephanie Connick run about feverishly organizing committees and storing items. When "The Knight" is in the bag, Jolene is back to business at hand - and some of that important business is finding the funds for families who can't afford tuition to attend Central Catholic. Jolene Wojcik has a big heart and wants to help everybody.

The pressure is enormous. Even so, talk of a grade school started years ago. 

When Jolene arrived at Central Catholic in 2019, discussions about a Catholic grade school were already in the works. Principal Dr. Jordan Engle, new to the school himself, was moved to believe that his children would one day attend a Catholic elementary school and was ready to start the process.

Then a number of unforeseen events occurred: a raging pandemic shut the country down, funds to support Central Catholic dwindled to nothing, and Central Catholic's biggest supporter, Father Jim Golka, was named Bishop of Colorado Springs in the spring of 2021. There was no more talk of a Catholic grade school.

Jolene's granddaughter Charlotte
Kilchriste with Jolene's mother
Alice Rhode shortly before
Alice's death

Until one seemingly ordinary day in November, 2021. 

It was also the anniversary of the death of Jolene's father. She remembers taking a phone call with the principal of Omaha Scutt. During that call, divine intervention struck and clarified every thing. She hung up and marched down the hall to Dr. Engle's office.

"We're going forward with the elementary school," she said. It was not a question. It was not open for discussion. It was a call from the Holy Spirit.

Even Jolene knew it was crazy. Her elderly mother was sick, her oldest daughter Jessica would shortly be giving birth, and the annual fundraiser The Knight was in full swing. Not one spare second of her time could be devoted to planning a new grade school. 

None of that mattered.

Jolene began conversations with loyal and long time Central Catholic supporters: Dr. John and Barbara Reilly, Tom and Kim Dinsdale, Mike and Jean Hamik and Tom and Sue Pirnie. They were all behind her efforts and generously offered their contributions to see the dream of a Catholic grade school realized.

Outside my classroom window, my students and I have witnessed the elementary school rising brick by brick. We watched the groundbreaking, the bricks and mortar growing inch by inch, and now we're seeing playground equipment installed for pre-schoolers. It's hard to conduct English class when your juniors and seniors dream only of dashing outside to try out the new slide.

Jolene and granddaughter
Charlotte hide the time capsule

A few months ago as the inside construction was nearly completed, Jolene and her two-year-old granddaughter Charlotte filled a time capsule with some of Jolene's dearest momentoes and hid it away in the bowels of the new construction. Jolene included some family pictures of her husband and best friend Tim, their daughters and granddaughter, and Jolene's  mom and dad. She also included a letter to her granddaughter Charlotte who, Jolene knew, would one day open that very same time capsule.

"Hello from the past!" her letter begins. "I'm not sure when you'll be reading this, but it could be 50 years from now, and I will be long gone."

It's a letter that would make you cry, laugh and hope for an abundant future in a single slip of paper. Jolene's faith is all over that letter.

Last year, Jolene's youngest granddaughter Elle was born. One morning at Central's all-school Mass, Jolene made an impassioned plea to our students and faculty. Her baby granddaughter, she said, was born with two holes in her heart. 

"Please pray for her," Jolene, in tears, humbly asked our school community. "I have great faith in the power of your prayers."

Many months after baby Elle's troubling diagnosis, Jolene spoke to us again just after Easter. She thanked our students for their prayers.

"We took Elle back to the doctor on Holy Thursday," she said. 

You could have heard a pin drop in that big gym. 

"The holes in Elle's heart have closed, and she's just fine. There's nothing else to be done!"

I will not soon forget the soft gasps of joy and relief in the old gym that day. It seemed an Easter miracle to all of us. 

Baby Elle on Ash Wednesday - with a 
healthy heart

Jolene Wojcik's faith and single-heartedness has inspired all of us. She reminds us every day that nothing is impossible with God.

Not long ago, after she shared her time capsule letter with me, Jolene said she wished she could be around to see her granddaughter Charlotte open the capsule and read the letter from her grandmother. I could imagine it: Charlotte and her sister Elle, maybe grandmothers themselves, in the fine, old and revered Central Catholic Elementary school, weeping tears over their grandmother's long ago words.

"You'll be there, Jolene," I assured her. "Heck, I'll come with you!"

Surely the good Lord allows us to connect with our children and grandchildren from our homes in Heaven. Don't we, after all, believe in the great communion of saints?

One thing's for certain. Jolene Wojcik - whether in Heaven or Earth - wouldn't want to be anywhere else on that great day.