By Jennifer Gutierrez
Staff Writer
Sticking with the old Catholic Church tradition, the parish of Our Lady of Malibu began an elementary school in 1958, when Malibu was a far smaller city than it is now. “It was constructed in order to fulfill our responsibilities,” explains Father Bill Kerze, the current pastor of the church, “God’s children are the ones who are entrusted to our care.”
In their efforts to protect the community, the church has been running Our Lady of Malibu middle as a successful educational facility for 46 years. The classes prepare Malibu children to enter high school by providing entrance exam study sessions on Saturday mornings for those students ending their eighth grade year there.
“At school students are equipped with the knowledge that they will need to venture out into the world,” says Jean Klein who has an eighth grader currently attending the school, “But at Our Lady of Malibu they are also prepared with the ability to make good decisions with a moral conscience.”
Even though the classes in moral guidance are provided in the religion department are provided to the students every year until graduation, not all of the students who attend the school are Catholic. Actually only half of the student body practices in the religion actively.
“I am not Catholic,” says Loren Klein who attends the school, “My family goes to Malibu Presbyterian, but I go to school with a lot of kids from different religions. I think it’s cool to learn about something I don’t get at my church.”
Loren also explains that the school offered him a safe place to go to school and hang out with friends, because the teachers and the principal do not allow fights to occur or put up with any dangerous behavior. He says that the reason that he did not attend another public school in the area was because it was not fun to go to school any more always being scared.
A lot of the parish money goes to helping families in the area be able to afford the extra cost of private schooling. Although, many of the parents and guardians can afford the expense, there are some families who come from middle class communities where they are struggling to put their children through private school.
“It is our privilege to help our school in anyway,” explains Father Kerze, “We try to make a difference wherever we are able.”
05-26-2005
