Bishop Wester dedicates John J. Sullivan Center of Learning

Intermountain Catholic

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, blesses the teachers and staff of Saint Marguerite Catholic School and John J. Sullivan Center, accompanied by Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general of the diocese (to the right of Bishop Wester. IC photos/Marie Mischel

TOOELE — Just in time for the start of the school year, the new Saint Marguerite Catholic School and John J. Sullivan Center of Learning in Tooele was dedicated Aug. 17.

"What we have done here – what you have done here – is put more than bricks and stones and mortar together," said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, at the dedication ceremony. "This beautiful building … is a symbol of what you are building in the moral fiber of our young people to make our world, our church, a better place."

The new building will house grades pre-K through third. A second phase of the project, with classrooms for grades fourth through eighth as well as a science lab and library, is expected to break ground this fall, courtesy of a grant from L.J. "Sam" Skaggs. Plans are to open the second phase next year, so that none of the classrooms will remain in the church basement.

Sam and Aline Skaggs’ contribution to St. Marguerite School and throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City is immeasurable, Bishop Wester said. "The lives that they have touched, particularly in education, are in the countless hundreds of thousands. So we’re very grateful to them, and we’re just as grateful to everybody who has donated and given of their hard-earned dollars to this marvelous project, particularly in these topsy-turvy economic times."

At the time of the dedication, classroom furnishings were still arriving, but Father Sam Dinsdale, St. Marguerite pastor, said they were prepared to open the doors for the first day of school. "The kids are very excited to have more space and rooms that are set up for the function of teaching and education," he said.

Shayes White, who teaches middle school science and math at St. Marguerite, said she’s looking forward to getting a new science lab next year, but seeing the dedication was wonderful. "I think it inspires the parents, it inspires the students, and even the older kids who are still in the church basement have seen this and they are so excited because they know next year we will be doing this for them."

Likewise, Rob Bench, whose two children attend St. Marguerite, said the new facilities and updated equipment "will be an amazing experience for them. It will be great for the kids." His wife, Toni Bench, teaches fifth grade at the school.

Benji Child and his sister Lizi Child, both St. Marguerite students, attended the dedication and thought the windows were the best part of the new school. Lizi said she also liked her mother’s classroom because it’s so large. Bethany Child said she also is excited that her second-grade classroom has windows. "When you’ve been downstairs with no windows, you don’t know what the weather is," but she also likes the storage space and the new equipment, she said.