August 05 2001 Article

August 05, 2001

Church opens new school to focus on boys

Over-the-Rhine institution to stress leadership, values

By Cindy Kranz, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Boys in Over-the-Rhine have been beaten down so long that the Rev. Albert Lauer figured it was time to tell them they are not a lost cause.

They can be great leaders, he says, and if they attend his parish's new St. Peter Claver Boys' Latin School, they are expected to be successful.

The Old St. Mary's Church pastor is eager to have a lasting effect on the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood where he has lived for a dozen years. He's been the church's pastor since 1998.

Over time, he's noticed a pattern in the inner city.

“Who is behind the drugs?” he asked himself. “Who is behind the gangs? Who is behind prostitution? Who commits violence and gets arrested?”

The questions share a common answer — young males.

“The young male is key, not only to this inner city, but every inner city in the world,” said the Father Lauer. “Obviously, I want to do good things for the neighborhood.”

And that's why he founded St. Peter Claver Boys' Latin School, which will open Aug. 27 with 20 boys from Over-the-Rhine — 18 African-American, one Hispanic and one white. Although the school is open to anyone, the focus is on neighborhood boys.

The Father Lauer describes St. Peter Claver as a male leadership training school, where a leadership theme will be integrated throughout the curriculum.

“A Latin school doesn't just mean teaching Latin,” he said. “It means a more demanding academic program that only potential leaders would be able to relate to. From the first day of kindergarten, they'll be told, "You'll be called to greatness. You'll be called to leadership.'”

The parish school is named for St. Peter Claver, the Patron Saint of Negro Missions. The Spanish Jesuit fought against slavery and ministered to slaves in the 1600s in Cartagena, South America's chief slave market. It was on his feast day — Sept. 9, 1999 — that the Rev. Mr. Lauer felt called by the Lord to focus on a leadership training school for boys.

The three-story building, adjacent to Old St. Mary's Church at 13th and Main streets, is returning to its roots. It opened in 1844 as Old St. Mary's German School and closed in 1962. The building was most recently offices for Franciscan at St. John, a Catholic social service agency.

For Full Story visit the Cincinnati Enquirer at www.cincinnati.com

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