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From Sr. Nikki to Sr. Emmanuelle: Gym teacher makes final vows
By Julie Filby
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Photo by James Baca/DCR |
Nikki Borchardt grew up in Minneapolis tossing a football around with her four brothers.
Today, now Sister Emmanuelle of the Lamb, she continues to toss around footballs—as well as basketballs, baseballs and dodge balls—as the physical education teacher at St. Catherine of Siena School in Denver.
“Sports were a big part of my life when I was younger,” she said. “I lived and breathed sports when I was a kid.”
Sister Borchardt—who played tennis, basketball and softball—dreamed of being a professional baseball player until she was 12. Later dreams guided her to a religious vocation.
On Dec. 30 family, friends, and members of the school and parish communities gathered at St. Catherine of Siena Church where she professed her final vows with the Community of the Beatitudes. The rite included a profession of faith, profession of vows, vesting of a new scapular, ring and cross—and a new religious name.
Transitioning from “Sister Nikki” to “Sister Emmanuelle of the Lamb” has been a big change.
“The kids were really excited about it,” she said. “The first couple days they were really great, calling me ‘Sister Emmanuelle’ immediately—and now they’re starting to forget.”
She said they’re not the only ones who need reminding.
“I have to remind myself several times a day that that’s my name now,” she said. “For the first 31 years of my life I was ‘Nikki,’ so now I’m getting used to it myself.
“Even though I’ve known it in my heart,” she said of the name she received in prayer during her novitiate, “It’s a different thing to make it public.”
Sister Borchardt hopes her presence in the school provides a good influence, as well as good memories for the students.
“I hope I give them a positive image of the Church,” she said. “I’m very conscious of that.
“When they think about (religious) sisters, they’re going to think about me and … that will be their image of the Church for all their life.”
She aims to keep the lines of communication open with her students.
“(Since) I’ve been here year after year, they’ve seen different events of my life as a sister, and I try to talk about questions as they come up,” she said. “Some students are really curious; others just say ‘Can we get on with class?’”
Sister Borchardt has taught at St. Catherine’s for five years. In addition to physical education and health, she has taught library and media.
“Teaching at St. Catherine’s has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” she said.
Though Catholic schools were once filled with religious sisters, today it is less common, as their overall numbers have declined. There were nearly 180,000 religious sisters in the United States in 1965, compared to about 56,000 last year, according to data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
In addition to St. Catherine’s, schools in the Denver Archdiocese with religious sisters include grade schools: St. Vincent de Paul, Christ the King, Notre Dame and St. Francis de Sales in Denver; Sts. Peter and Paul in Wheat Ridge; and St. Clare of Assisi in Edwards—as well as metro-area Catholic high schools: Arrupe Jesuit, Bishop Machebeuf, Holy Family, J.K. Mullen, Regis Jesuit and St. Mary’s Academy.
Other schools may have sisters who serve periodically on a volunteer basis.
“We are blessed to have sisters in our schools,” said Superintendent Richard Thompson. “Even though they are few in number, the witness of their community, in collaboration with the laity deeply enriches our Catholic culture—and serves as wonderful models of commitment for our students.”
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