Two years after Charlie Keyes left BSM for new opportunities, he has returned to the classroom doing what he loves. Keyes started at BSM in 2015, teaching freshman and sophomore Theology courses, such as Intro to Scripture, Paschal Mystery, Discipleship, and Philosophy. In 2022, he went to work in programming and funding for the North Memorial Health Foundation and ended up working at Hill-Murray School as well.
During Keyes’ first seven years at BSM, he helped develop the senior philosophy class. Since then, Senior High Philosophy teacher, Nathan Schlepp, has taken the lead and Keyes is glad that it is flourishing. “I just think it’s so important to have that opportunity to really think deeply and logically about what we believe about the world, about the unseen world,” Keyes said.
Keyes is now teaching Vocations, Theology, and World Religions. In theology, the most rewarding part of teaching for Keyes is opening his students’ minds to new ideas or ways of thinking about the many questions that can come up in learning about religion. “There can be a lot of misconceptions about Catholic teaching, and so having the opportunity to explain the nuances of the faith, and then to see students kind of have that worldview shift, where they recognize that maybe something that they understood to be true before is not the case, or to be challenged in something… it’s incredibly rewarding,” Keyes said.
Keyes grew up Catholic, but his faith didn’t blossom into a consequential aspect of his individual life until he attended Cretin-Derham Hall High School and began going to youth group with his friends. He also went on retreats for a program called NET Ministries and applied to volunteer right after graduating high school. He explained that it was an intense immersion into a world of accountability, fellowship, and living and loving in a way that resembles Jesus’ work. He believes that NET evolved his faith most, bringing him towards studying Theology in college. “I was on a team of twelve people traveling around in a twelve-passenger van all around the country for nine months, staying in host families for two to three nights at a time and then packing up and going to the next host family and putting on retreats for sixth through twelfth graders six days a week,” Keyes said.
Regardless of his two-year departure from BSM, Keyes feels that he now is more sure than ever that teaching is where he belongs. “I’m excited to be back at BSM. This place feels like home, and the other places I’ve worked have been awesome, but this is where I have spent the majority of my career, so it’s fun to be back with old colleagues and great students,” Keyes said.