A life dedicated to spiritual and educational direction

Intermountain Catholic

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Sister Karla McKinnie spends time with some third graders during recess. She said they have invited her to play jump rope. ?I wanted to be a teacher way before I thought about becoming a sister,? she said about her career as an educator. She was a teacher for 12 years and has been a principal for 30 years. IC photo by Priscilla Cabral

RIVERTON — Sister Karla McKinnie identifies herself with Saint Paul because her call was also sudden, yet powerful. She was then attending Holy Cross High School in California and even though she grew really close to the Holy Cross Sisters, she had not received a call to join them until a week before graduation. "I could not eat, sleep… it was haunting me," she said.

So, Sr. Karla went up to her principal to tell her she had decided to become a sister. She was surprised to find out her calling was no surprise to her principal. "I’ve known that all along," she told her.

Sr. Karla’s decision did shock her parents, especially her father. "He was upset. He wanted me to wait two years, until I was older, more mature," she said. Sr. Karla said he was a convert and did not understand much about a religious life. "He converted when I was in sixth grade and we did our confirmation together. It was very special."

Her parents eventually accepted her calling to serve God as a sister, and two months later, she was in Saint Mary’s College, where she spent five years in formation and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science and a minor in Education and Theology.

"Education opens the door to all kinds of opportunities. For example, if you’re in the cycle of poverty, education is a means to break it," she said.

Education is also a family affair: her two siblings are teachers and during her childhood, her parents taught elementary school while they worked on their college degrees during the summer.

She was not a complete stranger to the teaching profession in that sense, which came in handy on her first day teaching in Los Angeles. "I had 50 kids, no aide," she said. "There were seven kids who didn’t have any kindergarten, four or five repeating first grade… It was very scary."

But being a teacher was another calling she had. "I wanted to be a teacher way before I thought about becoming a sister," she said.

Sr. Karla said she enjoyed teaching first grade because she witnessed a lot of progress in the kids. "That’s when they learn to read. (As a teacher) you start from nothing," she said.

However, after 12 years of teaching, Sr. Karla was ready to contribute to the education system as a principal. Her main goal with this title has been to give schools a spiritual direction.

It was with this mind-set that she came to the Beehive State in 1984 as principal of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Salt Lake City. Sr. Karla had come from Washington and was not impressed by Utah. "It was dry. People seemed to be friendly," she said.

Four years later, she was asked to return to Los Angeles to take another principal position. She was there for ten years when she was needed back in Utah to help organize the opening of Saint John the Baptist Elementary School. This time Utah was "a breath of fresh air," she said.

Sr. Karla had been part of St. John the Baptist School for eight years when she decided she was up for another challenge as a Holy Cross Sister and signed up for a six-week intensive Spanish program at the Mexican American Culture Center in San Antonio, Texas. "There has been a Hispanic community in most places I’ve worked," she explained.

The community of St. John the Baptist, in gratitude for her years of service and leadership, collaborated to make one of Sr. Karla’s dreams come true. "The community was very generous. They gave me a trip to Australia for two weeks," she said.

Sr. Karla had wanted to travel to Australia since she read about it as a young person. "I think it’s very interesting that it started as a penal colony," she said. And of course, there were the Koalas and Kangaroos. "I actually got to hold a baby kangaroo."

Following the trip and a short break from the school hallways, Sr. Karla is back in the principal’s desk at the new Saint Andrew Catholic School. "Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald and Sister Katherine, the school superintendent, asked me to do it. I prayed about it and realized I missed the kids," she said.

"There is not a better qualified person to start this school," said Father Francisco Pires, pastor of St. Andrew parish. "She envisions the school to be prestigious not only at the academic level, but also in the spiritual and community aspects," he added.

"We get along. Some even call us ‘the frugals,’" he said laughing. "We take care of the resources we have and make sure nothing gets wasted. I’m, for example, turning off the lights all the time."

"She has a lot of experience and knows how to act before any situation," said Deborah Inzurriaga, the parish and school secretary. "She is very wise."

She is also someone whose faith, amidst changes in the church, did not waver.

"I made my final vows in 1969, in a time when a lot of people were leaving the Church because of the Vatican Council II. I was wondering why they were leaving. Had they learned something I didn’t know?"

This was a very stressful time for Sr. Karla, but she was happy when she agreed to live a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

"It felt like the right thing for me. You need to have faith and trust when you say ‘yes’ forever," she said.