NEWS :: Red Cloud Indian School

Volunteer completes service at Red Cloud, prepares to go into novitiate stage of Jesuit formation
by Shannon Grooms, Our Lady of the Sioux Church
posted on June 08, 2009

Volunteer Jeffrey Dorr will be leaving Red Cloud Indian School this week to enter the novitiate stage of the Jesuit formation. Dorr is moving to Berkley, Michigan, which is part of the Wisconsin Province of Jesuits.

“I’ve been thinking about becoming a Jesuit for about seven years,” explains Dorr, who is eager to begin the first stage of his formation. “After pursuing my college education and the volunteer program, I’ve reached a point in my life of, ‘Now is the time.’”

The first step in the novitiate stage develops a prayer life for a brother or scholastic based on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Another main component of the novitiate is to learn to integrate one’s daily experiences into one’s prayer.

Dorr is a product of a Catholic education, having attended a Jesuit high school. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Xavier University in Cincinnati, and his master’s degree from the Magis Program at Creighton University. The Magis Program, he explains, was designed to educate teachers to work in Catholic schools.

At Red Cloud, Dorr spent the last two years teaching social studies in the middle school at Red Cloud Elementary. He has also been actively involved in sports, camping and enjoying the outdoors.

As Dorr reflects on his upcoming journey, he is grateful to his parents for being an important influence on his life.

“My mom is such a caring person who has remained involved in the community, and my father is a terrific businessman, very open-minded and interested in learning about other cultures,” he says.

Shannon Grooms is a member of Our Lady of the Sioux Church. She taught Religion at Red Cloud Elementary School for four years until the birth of her eldest daughter. Shannon, her husband, and her two daughters live on a ranch nine miles north of Oglala, SD.

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