A Growing Partnership: St. Paul’s Cathedral and Emerson North High School
This year, St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oklahoma City found itself at the heart of an unexpected partnership.
Last spring, Emerson North High School’s original prom venue backed out unexpectedly. With only weeks to spare, the school made a call to St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s said yes, and offered them Dean Willey Hall to host their prom.
Emerson North High School is a small alternative school in the OKC Metro for grades 9-12. Their mission is, “Every day at Emerson North Alternative High School, we will provide all students a non-traditional setting where they will feel safe and secure to explore and learn at their own pace, invite our families and community partners to increase their opportunities to engage with our school, and value the relationship with our diverse community.” Many of Emerson’s roughly 200 students have faced barriers to academic success: frequent moves, parenting responsibilities, or other challenges.
Ashley Ozan, St. Paul’s Children, Family, and Life Minister, shared that the collaboration felt natural,
“I've always thought it was a natural relationship due to proximity. They asked in the fall to do the winter dance, and we, of course, said yes. Parishioners are excited to find other ways to help.”
This December, St. Paul’s again opened Dean Willey Hall, this time for Emerson North’s Winter Formal. After the prom last spring, church members asked what else they could do. Soon, St. Paul’s volunteers were helping stock the school’s incentive store, where students use digital “Cougar Cash” earned through attendance to purchase items.
Ashley shared how this work is vital for our faith, “Living out our baptismal covenant in seeking and serving Christ in all persons and respecting the dignity of every human being. These kids come from all walks of life. They are looked down on or kicked out of mainstream schools. Most are poor and have to work to keep food in their mouths (or their child). They aren't treated or viewed the same by teachers in mainstream schools. The staff there is wonderful. It’s a challenging population. Attendance is hard—so many roadblocks. We want to give them something nice to look forward to. Every other school has beautiful events put on by supportive PTOs. The student council and already stretched-thin staff try very hard to achieve the same. We want to support them however we can.”
