Blessed Redeemer marks 30 years of faith-based preschool with Sunday afternoon party

When Kevin Callies first stepped inside the doors of Blessed Redeemer Church in Brandon, he did so as their accountant. But it wasn’t long after that Callies was stepping inside the doors as a member. And since that time, he’s worn the hat of many leadership roles, but none touched his heart like the church’s preschool.

Crunching numbers for the congregation, Callies said there was a time when money was tight and members of the congregation questioned why they were supporting a preschool. But Callies and his fellow members on the preschool board of directors knew why: It was their mission.

“But you know South Dakotans, once they get it in their heads …” he said. “But there were a lot of people dedicated to it and stuck with it.”

And that includes people like Michelle Ternus, who has served as the preschool director for 19 years, and Kami Talcott, who has taught there for the same amount of time.

“We’re very thankful for the Brandon Valley community. Without them, we would not have the support that we have. Between the community and the church, it’s really become a foundation, and it’s got a good reputation,” Ternus said.

Blessed Redeemer Lutheran was the first church in Brandon to offer an organized preschool program. Callies said there have been several preschools that have come and gone over the last three decades.

“They found out that they had to put a lot of money into it. We just had to make sure that this is our focus … and I think it also helps that we’re very financially stable now.”

Since first opening the doors 30 years ago, Blessed Redeemer’s preschool program has been a part of about 1,700 youngster’s educational journey.

 “We’re just a big family, that’s our big philosophy, is we want to be a family, and we want people to come in and feel like, ‘Hey, I trust these people. My kids are safe here and I’m meeting a lot of friends and my kids, they walk away with friends that they then associate with out in the community.’” Ternus said.

And like families, the preschool is hosting an open house birthday party from 1-4 p.m. Sunday to celebrate the preschool’s milestone.

“We want to celebrate with the community so, everybody is invited,” Ternus said. 

The event will offer train rides, a bouncy house, obstacle course, cookies and the South Dakota Jacks food truck will be on site as well.

“We would love for older graduates to come back and say ‘hi,’ or anybody from the community, because it takes all of us to have this program. So we would love to have everybody come back and just enjoy it,” she said.

Two years ago, the preschool got a “facelift” when the classrooms were updated. Ternus said they had been discussing the idea of adding on, but chose to remodel rather than build to be fiscally responsible.

Ternus and her staff relish in being part of the foundation of the preschooler’s educational journey.

“You want it to be a good experience,” she said. “You want them to be like, ‘I really like learning. I like to investigate new things.” And, I think it’s so important that it’s play-based so that the kids are using all of their senses and truly getting a whole-body experience instead of just a worksheet.”

Ternus and staff also relish in the fact that what they are teaching the kids is more importantly based on faith.

“We get so many people that are thankful that we talk about God every day, every moment. We have chapel every day and we’re constantly in circle time talking about God. We’re talking about Him all day long,” she said.

There are some yearly rituals that have withstood the test of time at Blessed Redeemer Lutheran, like the Christmas program and year-end graduation ceremonies.

“We have Armed Forces and we always have veterans come in. We try to invite the community in, and we always have the firemen come. We always go to the pumpkin patch at Cherry Rock Farms. We like our spring field trips, and we always try to do something within the community and go to someone’s farm,” she said.

Another staple of the program is the Kid of the Kingdom, which is a program that puts the spotlight on ne student each week.

“They love bringing in their family members and showing them off and the moms, dads, grandparents like to come in and tell about their special kid that God has blessed them with. It just makes them feel so special,” Ternus said.