Upholding Tradition

Family traditions. We all have them. A gift exchange at Christmas, a family football game on Thanksgiving, an annual beach vacation—family traditions shape who we are. For Caroline Lenczowski Detweiler, a 1992 Cor Jesu graduate, one of her family traditions is Cor Jesu.

Caroline is the youngest of six girls, and all but one attended Cor Jesu. With four older sisters paving the way at CJA, Caroline spent a lot of time at the school, even before she was a student. When it came time for her Open House visit in eighth grade, she already had a feeling that this was where she was meant to be.

“We made it halfway down the first-floor hallway on my tour, and I just knew it,” Caroline recalled. “It felt like family there.” She became the fifth sister to attend, and even as a teenager, Caroline recognized the sacrifices her parents made to send her and her sisters to Cor Jesu. Caroline’s mom went back to work full-time when she was 4 years old to ensure that her daughters could not only attend college, but that they were prepared to succeed in college by attending Cor Jesu. And in Caroline’s opinion, it worked.

“When I showed up at Virginia Tech my freshman year, I knew how to study, write papers, ask the important questions, and figure out where to find the answers I needed,” Caroline said. “Not all the freshmen could do that, and it was thanks to my roots at CJA.” what I believed,” Caroline remembered.

While Caroline’s parents valued academics, they saw college preparation as more than just test scores. Faith, and having it ingrained in their daughters’ daily lives through the Apostles of the Sacred Heart, also set Cor Jesu apart. Caroline found that the Sisters were a great source of guidance during those formative teen years, and she developed relationships with them both spiritually and as friends. One day, Caroline and her friends were having eraser fights with Sr. Barbara Thomas, ASCJ, and another day, they were inspired by the Sisters’ devotion to Christ through service. The ability to see the Sisters as religious role models and as approachable friends made an impact on Caroline and strengthened her beliefs.

“I knew that as I continued forward in life, the community of Sisters was always going to be there for me.”

The value placed on education and faith at Cor Jesu stuck with Caroline and made it a place she hoped to continue her family tradition—even from two hours away.

Caroline, her husband, John, and their 10 children reside in Ashland, Mo., where John works with the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales at Warm Springs Ranch and Caroline works as a veterinarian. The family moved from St. Louis to Ashland in 2012, but under one condition from Caroline— “That the kids’ education would not suffer.” Her goal remained that their children would receive the best opportunities available, and for their first-born, Mikayla ‘22, that meant taking the traditional route at Cor Jesu in a non-traditional way.

Mikayla visited Cor Jesu in eighth grade, and despite the location, she fell in love. Like her mom, Mikayla found a welcoming spirit at CJA and saw it as a family. Not to mention, she was impressed by the science labs. When Mikayla told her parents that she wanted to be a Charger, they made it happen—with some help from grandma and grandpa.

In the Fall of 2018, Mikayla moved in with Caroline’s parents in St. Louis to begin her freshman year at Cor Jesu. She quickly became involved with sports, the Benin Babies service club, Mock Trial and of course, ECHO, CJA’s science club. The oldest of 10, living only with her grandparents was quite the change for Mikayla. It’s a quieter home, which makes for a nice place to study, but at the beginning, she did miss her parents and siblings.

“It was hard sometimes, and still can be hard, because I’ll miss birthdays during the week or other exciting events with my family,” Mikayla said. “But I always know it’s worth it because Cor Jesu is preparing me so well for college and I’ve made so many great friends with people I would have never known otherwise.”

Fortunately, Mikayla’s time as an only child was short-lived. The next year, her younger twin siblings, Rebecca and Daniel, also moved in with their grandparents to pursue their Catholic high school educations. Rebecca is now a junior at Cor Jesu and Daniel is a junior at Christian Brothers College High School (CBC).

“It’s been an adjustment being away from home the past two years,” Rebecca said. “However, my experiences at Cor Jesu have been amazing and so different than if I hadn’t moved to St. Louis. I have been very involved at CJA which has allowed me to make amazing friends, develop leadership skills, challenge myself academically and grow in my Catholic faith.

The fourth Detweiler sibling also moved in with grandma and grandpa this fall. Abigail just began her freshman year at Cor Jesu, following Mikayla and Rebecca.

“It’s exciting to be back with my older sisters and become a Charger like my mom and aunts,” Abigail said. “My sisters have calmed my nerves about being away from home. I miss the rest of my family, of course, but am excited for the challenges of being a CJA student and am ready to experience the school’s spirit."

John and Caroline Detweiler miss their four oldest children, but to them it’s a sacrifice worth making. Inspired by her parents’ sacrifices that allowed her to experience Cor Jesu, Caroline wants to do the same for her daughters. Cor Jesu was instrumental in Caroline’s success in college and in vet school; it was a milestone in her faith journey, and the source of many special friendships.

“Most importantly, I think Cor Jesu sets the foundation for its students to say to themselves, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ when things get tough in life,” Caroline said. “And when they really feel like they can’t, they have their foundation of faith to lean on.”

It was a simple pro-con decision for the Detweilers. The pros of sending their daughters to Cor Jesu simply outweighed the cons of not seeing each other every day. Plus, how can you argue with family tradition?