Updating the past
School's efforts challenged by century-old facility

ABOVE: Students walk through an stone archway at St. Michael's Indian School last Thursday. The arches are a hallmark of St. Katharine Drexel, who built the school back in 1902. BELOW: Brother James Burns reads a book called "Rainbow" to his third grade students at St. Michael's Indian School last Thursday. The school has 355 students in grades kindergarten to 12th. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

ST. MICHAELS — Officials at St. Michael Indian School find themselves thinking a lot about challenges that few other local schools face.

Like other schools, they deal with the age-old challenge of providing their students with a quality education. And like other schools, they have to deal with contemporary problems like keeping their students safe and keeping their buses filled with ever more expensive fuel.

But unlike most other schools, officials at SMIS are trying to offer a 21st century education in buildings that were constructed a century ago, and they are trying to reduce their school’s energy footprint at a facility that features maze-like ductwork, dozens of furnaces, drafty attics, scores of leaky door and window frames, and thousands of feet of single pane window glass.

Sister Kathleen Kajer, the school’s new executive director, and Paul Heinzen, a development associate, have begun tackling the monumental challenge of upgrading the school facility to make it more energy efficient. And monumental is not an exaggeration. When the school was founded in 1902 by Mother (now Saint) Katharine Drexel, the school’s solid sandstone rock walls were quarried from a nearby hill and its rooms were heated by fireplaces and stoves. Over the next century, a number of beautiful — although equally energy inefficient — buildings have been added to the historic school grounds.

This summer, with some grant money and a number of individual donations that were earmarked for energy-saving projects, Kajer and Heinzen began a number of projects to improve the physical resources of the school. One of the first things they discovered was that for the last 106 years SMIS’s heating dollars have been escaping through the rooftop.

“All these years we had no insulation in our attics,” Kajer said. After that discovery, the school hired a contractor to insulate all 14,000 square feet of school attic space.

Heinzen has also spent a lot of time compiling an inventory of the school’s physical resources to prioritize the energy-saving projects. He has tallied up 126 doors in just the main school building alone, more than 350 single pane windows – which doesn’t include the high school’s wall of windows, 84 furnaces, and more than 360 incandescent light bulbs that need replacement. With each high school classroom featuring 350 square feet of single pane glass, that particular building is a heating and cooling nightmare unto itself.

Thus far, Heinzen and his crew of staff members and volunteers have removed old ductwork, caulked and painted “leaky” windows, sealed door frames, and removed trees that were threatening to damage buildings. A contractor has replaced 27 of the single paned windows. Heinzen said the school is currently installing 51 programmable thermostats, and he is working to reconfigure the school’s heating ductwork to provide a better air exchange system. He’s also trying to figure out how to insulate those impractical walls of glass in the high school.

Kajer said the school has spent about $95,000 on the energy-saving projects so far. “When you think of what’s been done, that’s a real bargain,” she said. Because of the contributions of staff and volunteer labor, Kajer believes the value of the work to be worth about $200,000.

However, Kajer said there are more challenges — “things you don’t see” — to be addressed, like the antiquated plumbing and electrical systems.

“The thing that could bring this school down is operating expenses,” Heinzen admitted. “In three years,” he explained, “our utility costs have risen about 44 percent.”

So although he’s busy now with the ongoing work of replacing windows and light bulbs, insulating all the buildings, and making the heating system more efficient, Heinzen said the school is working to develop a master plan for the next 20 to 30 years. He would like to see that master plan include an energy plan, and he would also like to see the school become energy independent in the future. To achieve that goal, Heinzen said, he would like SMIS to collaborate with a college to explore the production of bio-diesel fuel and the development of wind and solar power at the school.

Community members interested in learning more about the work of St. Michael Indian School and the challenges it faces are invited to attend the school’s annual fund raiser dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9 in the high school gym. The event will feature a catered buffet dinner, entertainment by students, and a silent auction. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at the elementary, high school, business, or development offices.

Information: (505) 871-4667, 871-3339, or smis@smis1902.org