Holy Trinity senior Layne Rung hands a large balloon to preschooler Luka Menke during a groundbreaking ceremony at Holy Trinity Elementary in West Point May 20.
By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
WEST POINT — Holy Trinity student Cade Wilson was just a kindergartner nine years ago during the elementary east wing groundbreaking ceremony. The blonde-haired youth donned a plastic hard hat as he handed a ceremonial basket full of money to his great-grandfather, Dennis Menke, the building campaign’s volunteer chairman.
Wilson, now a high school freshman, was on hand May 20 to celebrate yet another groundbreaking ceremony at the West Point elementary. In January, the school embarked on a $6.3 million capital campaign to address a lack of classroom space for the student body, which has nearly doubled since completion of the east wing in 2019. “I think it’s great seeing the school evolve and get bigger,” Wilson told The Catholic Messenger.
The new, west wing addition — “phase II” for short — will include new classrooms, expansion of early childhood and pre-k spaces, and dedicated art and music rooms for all students. Holy Trinity hopes to open the new wing at the start of the 2027-28 school year, school officials said.
In late March, Holy Trinity reached the 60% pledge threshold necessary to begin construction. Four local parishes support Holy Trinity: St. John the Baptist-Houghton, St. James the Less-St. Paul, St. Mary of the Assumption-West Point and Holy Family-Fort Madison.
Prior to the groundbreaking, Bishop Dennis Walsh presided at the final all-school Mass of the academic year at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church. Elementary and high school students and staff members wore blue shirts with the words “Thank you for helping us grow” printed on the back in yellow lettering. “Thanks for passing on the faith… to these young people,” the bishop told the congregation.
At the end of Mass, Principal and Chief Academic Officer Craig Huebner approached the ambo to thank the school community for making the new construction possible. “Today, we gather not simply to celebrate the expansion of a building, but to celebrate the expansion of the opportunity, faith and hope for generations of children and families who walk through the doors for years to come. Catholic education has always been about more than classrooms and hallways. It’s about forming disciples, nurturing minds and building a community, building in Christ,” he said. “When we come together in faith and purpose, incredible things can happen.”
The congregation then headed out to the job site next door. Older students gave elementary students plastic hard hats to wear during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Kate Menke, left, and Ann Menke stand next to a photograph of the late Dennis Menke during the groundbreaking ceremony for a west wing addition to Holy Trinity Elementary in West Point May 20.
A large, framed photograph of Menke, a retired business owner who set the groundwork for the west wing before passing away in September, accompanied school and diocesan officials in front of the job site.
His daughter, Ann Menke, spoke passionately about her father’s dedication to Catholic education in southeast Iowa. “It’s his fault that we’re all standing here today,” she said at the groundbreaking. He “had a vision for what Catholic education could be in our communities, and he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Thank God he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” Kate Menke, his wife of 61 years, was “the rock behind my dad,” Ann Menke told the crowd.
School board members, campaign officials, administrators, clergy and members of the Menke family lined up in front of the job site for a photo op, placing the tips of their gold-colored shovels in the dirt. Elementary students threw their hard hats into the air, and preschool students — with help from high school seniors — released large, yellow balloons into the air.
Kate Menke sat next to her husband’s portrait and was all smiles during the ceremony. “It doesn’t get any better,” she told The Catholic Messenger.
