Blog

By Lisa Geger, OLL Director of Religious Education & Youth Ministry
As Featured in the May issue of OLLIS Tiger Paw Newsletter

There are some things we do that we just do. We don’t really think about it, but we have always participated in it without thinking of its inception. Our Lady of Lourdes Vacation Bible School falls into that elusive category.

Over the past 50 years, thousands of kiddos from hundreds of families have participated in this awesome summertime religious education immersive experience. But have we really thought any more about it?

Well, Susan Leonard has. She started volunteering for VBS since its inception when she was 13 years old and has continued to respond to God’s call for service and leadership through her incredible gift of teaching.

Before having kids, Susan was a Girl Scout and Brownie Leader. She led troops for 15 years and then led Cub Scouts for her sons, leading VBS in 1990, then began teaching at OLLIS (CCS at the time) in 2000. Susan has helped form generations of young souls and developed a family tradition that we, at least I, have taken for granted over the years.

In 1990, the VBS program was small, with about 35 children using a purchased curriculum that the user could tweak to their needs. This was not good enough for Susan. She knew there was a better way to teach our children the beauty of the Catholic Faith, so she set out to create her own curriculum with the help of her two sons.

The first program she wrote was Rainbow of Faith, which delved into some incredible stories about how we can follow these incredible role models as children of God. Michael Jordan has nothing on these guys!

After the first week was completed with Susan’s customized curriculum, her son exclaimed, “ We gotta write another story!” So Susan and her two sons checked into a hotel, ordered pizza and designed three more programs: Rainbow of Faith 2, Underwater Adventures and Animal Safari.

These annual alternating programs continue to challenge our children to become the saints they were born to be, and the program now teaches over 130 children, with 50 Junior Helpers and 20 Adult Volunteers. No matter if you attend the program from pre-k to 4th grade, these important messages and teachings from our Catholic doctrine continue to mold the Mystical Body of Christ and even more so when those students can now become Junior Helpers! And so, begins the circle of life and a beautiful summer time tradition for us all.

With summer rapidly approaching, Susan is busy preparing for VBS and celebrating her 50th year guiding God’s children, all right here at Our Lady of Lourdes! Susan loves the relaxed environment for continuing children’s religious education during the summer. Even better, the incoming kindergarteners who attended VBS get to familiarize themselves with the school and make new friends, so their first day of school becomes a fun event. They even get to mentor new friends who are quite anxious about their first day in a strange environment. Opening their little arms and hearts allows Jesus Christ Himself to wrap His loving arms around those children, welcoming them into His very own Heart.

So, what are you going to do this summer?

Pictures of the fun from VBS 2023 “Underwater Adventures”