Donor Stories

Kearney Catholic has named Mrs. Polla Renken the first-ever recipient of the Marylin and Charlie Bicak Award for Excellence in Education. Established through the generosity of the Bicak family, the award honors an educator who embodies the school's Four Tenets: Love God, Expect Excellence, Know Truth, and Serve Others, and comes with an unrestricted $5,000 gift. Nominations are open to the whole Kearney Catholic community, and it was staff, parents, students, and alumni who put Mrs. Renken's name forward.

Excerpts from those nominations describe a science teacher who brings faith into ordinary moments, praying with students before competitions and helping them see Christ's love in the way she treats people. Her classroom is known for hands-on experiments that spark real curiosity, and for a standard that pushes students to work hard and feel the reward of it. She teaches students to ask better questions rather than hand them easy answers, and to see science and faith as part of the same understanding.

What comes through most in those excerpts is consistency. She's there early, she stays late, and she volunteers for school events and service opportunities before anyone has to ask. As one nomination put it, she speaks more with her actions than her words.

The Bicak family's gift, and Mrs. Renken's example, give Kearney Catholic educators a clear picture of what excellence looks like.

Strength & Conditioning Coach Clay Frels rallied a group of donors around one shared belief: that Kearney Catholic athletes deserve a strong foundation to build on, literally and figuratively.

That belief fueled a gift to the Strength & Conditioning program, giving student-athletes access to updated strength equipment and a space designed to support training across every sport, not just one.

"It had been over 15 years since our training space was updated," said Clay Frels, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach. "New tools like timing gates and force plates let us track real progress and data for every athlete on their journey here."

The upgrade reflects a broader truth about Kearney Catholic athletics: strength built in the weight room shows up everywhere, on the field, in the classroom, and in the discipline students carry into daily life.

A library refresh is rarely just about the shelves, and this one was no exception.

Thanks to a gift from the Ward family, made even more impactful by a generous matching contribution from Brooke's employer, Kearney Catholic's library has become a space built for how students learn today.

New carpet, fresh paint, and reupholstered chairs gave the space an updated feel, while new technology made presentations and collaborative work easier than ever. Perhaps most notably, part of the library was repurposed into a dedicated room for quiet study and small-group work, giving students options the space never offered before.

"I am excited for students to begin using the updated library space," said Janet Anderson, KCHS librarian. "I believe the new, warm and inviting environment will further enhance the safe, welcoming, family-like atmosphere that KCHS strives to provide. The new student workroom will be a valuable resource for students collaborating on group projects, as well as for those who need a quiet space to engage with videos or other multimedia content for online classes."