Jordan Engle works side by side with GICC students at a Husker Harvest Days' sandwich booth handing out chips, pouring sodas, taking orders left and right. Finally, a long time adult supervisor, impressed with his hard work, claps him on the back.
"What grade are you in, son?"
Jordan blinks. "I'm the principal," he says.
It's an easy mistake. Our new principal, like the one before him, looks like a kid. And to those of us senior citizens still teaching at GICC, he really is a kid. But we like him. We like him a lot.
Mr. Engle arrives on the scene with zest and fervor. A first year administrator fresh from Sutton where for five years he's been a math instructor, golf coach, the one-act play director, speech coach, the National Honor Society proctor, the Data team chair, and a crisis team member - yes, ALL of those - he seems the man for the job. Nevertheless, the new principal gig isn't always easy. Almost immediately, the school board votes to shut down the senior lounge - the secluded little space above the old gym - deeming it a liability issue. Mr. Engle delivers the blow to 40 shell shocked seniors.
The next week, however, he brings every senior Raising Cane's chicken to ease the disappointment. In the middle of a throng of kids, he jokes and cajoles and dispenses savory chicken fingers.
"He understands kids," says senior Jenna Lowry, "and he makes everyone feel welcome and better even when things don't always work out. He just interacts with everybody in such a positive way, and he's making this school better."
Mr. Engle is, above all else, a devout Catholic. It's what speaks to everybody at Central Catholic. He's the real thing. Father Jim Golka, pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral, is immediately impressed with Engle at his interview for the position of principal.
"It was clear to me," Father Golka says, "that his strongest asset is his Catholic identity. He lives and breathes his faith and has a deep desire to share God's love with people around him, especially young people."
Engle freely admits his Catholic faith is the result of a circuitous journey. Just before he enters kindergarten, his parents separate and divorce. He and his older brother still remember the pain of that difficult time. Only a year later, Jordan's grandfather - a beloved long time principal from the Logan, Iowa school system - will die, and a young Jordan remembers feeling suddenly adrift. It's only years later, just as he's entering middle school, that his mother remarries. His new stepfather, a farmer in the small town of Elgin, Nebraska, is a strong Catholic and convinces Jordan's mother to move her boys to Elgin and enroll them at Elgin Pope John. When he is 12-years-old, Engle and his mother and brother will all join the Church.
"Sometimes," he remembers, "I'd go to Mass by myself even when my family couldn't go." It's with his new stepfather, his newfound faith, and the Elgin Pope John community that Engle at last feels anchored.
"I know now that family is the building block of the church," he says. In his adult life, he says, he's committed to involving God in his own family. That commitment begins, however, when he's a 12-year-old navigating for the first time his Catholic faith. But in high school, the teenage years erupt, and Engle becomes somewhat of a troublemaker.
"Nothing serious," he says. "I was afraid of my mother. I'm still afraid of her."
Nevertheless, in high school he entertains himself by sneaking into the science closet and deliberately moving chemicals to the dismay of his confused chemistry teacher. The very next week, he arrives to class with a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper and candy flouting the teacher's absolute "no food in my classroom" policy. His pranks can hardly be classified as criminal activity, but Engle realizes now that in his own way he was finally grieving both the death of his much loved grandfather and his parents' marriage.
At Elgin Pope John School, though, in a strong community of believers, Engle is coaxed into immersing himself into TEC (Teens Encounter Christ). At a TEC retreat he meets a lovely blond girl from Humphrey St. Francis called Jenna. Jordan can't know then she will one day be his wife, but he recognizes that somehow Jenna is helping him turn back to his faith.
"I was very unhappy when I was a teenager, and I give Jenna a hundred percent credit even though she'll deny it to this day. She helped me to understand I had a hole in my heart, and the only way to fill it was that perfect fit of love for God and my neighbor."
Today, Jenna is a a third grade teacher at Gates Elementary, and the two of them are parents to vivacious Josie who, Engle jokes, is "two and a half going on 25", and year-old Carson with his sweet smile and mashed potato cheeks.
The family is delighted to be part of the Grand Island Central Catholic and Resurrection Church communities. Jordan, as is his style, leaps in to fill every spot. At GICC's Thursday morning Mass, he sings and accompanies the choir on his guitar. When an advanced math professor drops out of the curriculum at the last second, Jordan jumps in. Besides his vast principal duties, he teaches math second period every day. He even occasionally makes breakfast for the faculty.
"I make a mean breakfast burrito," he boasts.
In a short time, Engle and his family have become part of our GICC fabric, and it seems meant to be. He admits to being awestruck at the amazing involvement of Central Catholic families.
"I can't believe how good the kids are, and our faculty buys into this place one hundred percent."
As for his own role at GICC, Jordan Engle says he hopes to excite everybody at Central Catholic about what the school can be moving forward. But mostly, he says, he hopes that all of us - staff, students and parents - can develop a spiritual connection with each other.
"One that will last a long time," he flashes a boyish grin. "Forever."
 |
| Jordan Engle |
"What grade are you in, son?"
Jordan blinks. "I'm the principal," he says.
It's an easy mistake. Our new principal, like the one before him, looks like a kid. And to those of us senior citizens still teaching at GICC, he really is a kid. But we like him. We like him a lot.
Mr. Engle arrives on the scene with zest and fervor. A first year administrator fresh from Sutton where for five years he's been a math instructor, golf coach, the one-act play director, speech coach, the National Honor Society proctor, the Data team chair, and a crisis team member - yes, ALL of those - he seems the man for the job. Nevertheless, the new principal gig isn't always easy. Almost immediately, the school board votes to shut down the senior lounge - the secluded little space above the old gym - deeming it a liability issue. Mr. Engle delivers the blow to 40 shell shocked seniors.
The next week, however, he brings every senior Raising Cane's chicken to ease the disappointment. In the middle of a throng of kids, he jokes and cajoles and dispenses savory chicken fingers.
"He understands kids," says senior Jenna Lowry, "and he makes everyone feel welcome and better even when things don't always work out. He just interacts with everybody in such a positive way, and he's making this school better."
Mr. Engle is, above all else, a devout Catholic. It's what speaks to everybody at Central Catholic. He's the real thing. Father Jim Golka, pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral, is immediately impressed with Engle at his interview for the position of principal.
"It was clear to me," Father Golka says, "that his strongest asset is his Catholic identity. He lives and breathes his faith and has a deep desire to share God's love with people around him, especially young people."
Engle freely admits his Catholic faith is the result of a circuitous journey. Just before he enters kindergarten, his parents separate and divorce. He and his older brother still remember the pain of that difficult time. Only a year later, Jordan's grandfather - a beloved long time principal from the Logan, Iowa school system - will die, and a young Jordan remembers feeling suddenly adrift. It's only years later, just as he's entering middle school, that his mother remarries. His new stepfather, a farmer in the small town of Elgin, Nebraska, is a strong Catholic and convinces Jordan's mother to move her boys to Elgin and enroll them at Elgin Pope John. When he is 12-years-old, Engle and his mother and brother will all join the Church.
"Sometimes," he remembers, "I'd go to Mass by myself even when my family couldn't go." It's with his new stepfather, his newfound faith, and the Elgin Pope John community that Engle at last feels anchored.
"I know now that family is the building block of the church," he says. In his adult life, he says, he's committed to involving God in his own family. That commitment begins, however, when he's a 12-year-old navigating for the first time his Catholic faith. But in high school, the teenage years erupt, and Engle becomes somewhat of a troublemaker.
"Nothing serious," he says. "I was afraid of my mother. I'm still afraid of her."
 |
| Jordan Engle - Elgin Pope John bad boy. |
At Elgin Pope John School, though, in a strong community of believers, Engle is coaxed into immersing himself into TEC (Teens Encounter Christ). At a TEC retreat he meets a lovely blond girl from Humphrey St. Francis called Jenna. Jordan can't know then she will one day be his wife, but he recognizes that somehow Jenna is helping him turn back to his faith.
"I was very unhappy when I was a teenager, and I give Jenna a hundred percent credit even though she'll deny it to this day. She helped me to understand I had a hole in my heart, and the only way to fill it was that perfect fit of love for God and my neighbor."
Today, Jenna is a a third grade teacher at Gates Elementary, and the two of them are parents to vivacious Josie who, Engle jokes, is "two and a half going on 25", and year-old Carson with his sweet smile and mashed potato cheeks.
 |
| Engle family from left: Jenna, Carson, Josie, Jordan |
The family is delighted to be part of the Grand Island Central Catholic and Resurrection Church communities. Jordan, as is his style, leaps in to fill every spot. At GICC's Thursday morning Mass, he sings and accompanies the choir on his guitar. When an advanced math professor drops out of the curriculum at the last second, Jordan jumps in. Besides his vast principal duties, he teaches math second period every day. He even occasionally makes breakfast for the faculty.
"I make a mean breakfast burrito," he boasts.
In a short time, Engle and his family have become part of our GICC fabric, and it seems meant to be. He admits to being awestruck at the amazing involvement of Central Catholic families.
"I can't believe how good the kids are, and our faculty buys into this place one hundred percent."
As for his own role at GICC, Jordan Engle says he hopes to excite everybody at Central Catholic about what the school can be moving forward. But mostly, he says, he hopes that all of us - staff, students and parents - can develop a spiritual connection with each other.
"One that will last a long time," he flashes a boyish grin. "Forever."
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