Holy Cross kicks off summer with BBQ

Whether on the court or on his video-game console, now-ninth-grader Kyle Kuehl foresees a lot of basketball in his future this summer.

He finished his final year at Holy Cross Catholic School Thursday, returning the same evening for a special event called the Summer Kickoff BBQ. The 19-year long tradition is a way to celebrate the start of summer in a relaxed, informal setting.

Kyle said he had learned more than just multiplication tables and parts of speech at Holy Cross.

“It was good,” he said. “Good teachers. Good experience. It taught me a lot more than just academics. They taught me more social stuff, like how to make good habits. Like, studying habits. Like, maybe starting when I got home and not putting it off until the last minute.”

It’s his last year, and he had some advice for kids just starting out.

“I would say probably try starting off strong,” he said. “Like, some people, they just like ease into it. … And it goes by fast, so take advantage of it.”

One of the relatively new students at Holy Cross going into second grade, Ariana Pumper, told her mom, Heather Pumper, that she was sad when she got home from school Thursday.

“She came up to me, and I asked ‘Are you sad that you’re done with school?’” Heather said. “She’s like ‘A little bit. I miss my friends.’ But now she’s out there playing with them.”

According to Chris Kuehl, president of the athletic association who organizes the event, that is a big reason for the event too, to let kids play together before parting ways for a few months.

“This is the first time we’ve come,” Heather said. “Ariana usually has activities on a Thursday night, but that’s changed. So we came out today, and I really like it. I love the community feel too. Everybody is just so nice.”

The Pumper family has some plans for the summer, mostly involving their boat and some lakes. While Prior Lake is their go-to, they also enjoy the local lakes around Lonsdale.

“We’re gonna try to get up north this weekend,” she said. “And then we are going to take a long weekend for the Fourth of July, and go up north and spend time with a friend on the lake, Lake Vermillion.”

The Pumpers weren’t originally planning to send Ariana to Holy Cross, but the pandemic changed those plans.

“We originally were gonna send her to public school, but when she started preschool, she was in the COVID part of it,” Heather said. “And we wanted to be in person. And Holy Cross offered that route here. Then, we’ve been here since.”

While the summer can bring a lot of joy, it can be strange for parents to go from no kids during the day to kids all day. Heather shared her advice for summer, from a parents’ perspective.

“What’s the word?” she began. “Flexible. Be flexible, so everybody kind of gets back into the groove with everybody.”