By DR. KENT LASNOSKI
Special to Catholic Times

What do you get when you cross 22 young men from Illinois and all over the country with some shops full of tools, a pile of the greatest books ever written, and a priory of heroic Norbertine priests? You get San Damiano College for the Trades, and it’s right here in our diocese in Springfield! Move-in day is Aug. 16.

From New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Illinois, these students have discerned God calling them to answer the words spoken by Christ to St. Francis of Assisi in the ruins of the Church of San Damiano: “Francis, rebuild my Church!” The command wasn’t just a metaphor. St. Francis started out by physically rebuilding the Church, which became central to his entire ministry and legacy.

San Damiano College for the Trades forms young men to recover the dignity of work and integrate it into a life ordered toward the kingdom of God and the sanctification of the world. San Damiano College for the Trades accomplishes that noble task with two programs, one of which opens on Aug. 16 — namely, the House of Formation Program.

In the House of Formation Program, on Mondays and Fridays, students live a rigorous schedule of morning workout, Mass, and intellectual formation in the morning, with trades exposure in the afternoon. A communal meal is served, and students are free to make a holy hour or pray the Rosary, but they all join for the Night Prayer (Compline) with the Norbertines.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and some Saturdays, students are employed in the community, earning on-the-job training and the money they will use to pay for their formation. These jobs are intended to serve as on-ramps to apprenticeships and careers students desire to pursue in the building trades. Students benefit from monthly spiritual direction with a priest and once a year, students make a weeklong missionary pilgrimage and a silent retreat as well.

The second path for our students toward the dignity of work will be San Damiano’s completely unique associate’s degree in the great books’ tradition of the liberal arts. While San Damiano has permission to operate the House of Formation program, we are still in the process of applying for operating authority for the degree program. God-willing, the degree program may be approved by fall of 2026.

Students earning this degree go through the same spiritual formation and trades exposure as the House of Formation students, but they also earn credits over three years toward the degree while getting on-the-job training in a high-skilled trade. The curriculum itself is the learning every person ought to have, a training of the intellectual virtues through logic, grammar, and rhetoric, and a habit of asking the important questions with philosophy. Students will also learn an understanding of math, science, and the humanities, but most importantly, a constant deepening in theology. All students take one integrated curriculum. We believe in the courses so firmly that there are no electives.

What is most encouraging about starting a totally different kind of educational experience is the excitement and collaboration from all around the diocese. For one, with the help of the Tracy Family Foundation, San Damiano was able to remodel and prepare its shop spaces. Individuals, businesses, and institutions in the diocese are teaming up with the college to help it flourish.

For example, local companies like CAD Construction, Prairie State Plumbing and Heating, Air Masters, Johnstone Supply, Tremco Roofing, E.L. Pruitt, ProMax Construction, Otto Baum, Ryan Electric, the local Carpenters’ Union, and the local IBEW (electricians) union, are each giving what we call a “Pro Tips” presentation to our students this summer ahead of the move-in date so students get a better idea about the life of an apprentice and journeyman in these businesses. Further, some companies are sending employees to our campus for trades exposure, demonstrating and presenting on the basics of their skills. Construction companies from around the diocese, like Korte Co., Korte Luitjohann, and Poettker Construction are also friends of the College.

The collaboration around the diocese doesn’t stop at the businesses, however. San Damiano College for the Trades is in conversation with Quincy University about how to bring the strengths of both institutions together for mutual aid as we seek to bring real solutions to the labor force gap and higher education accessibility gaps existing for young people today.

Young people are hungry for a post-secondary educational experience where they can avoid debt without having a perfect score on the ACT. We have a long and growing waitlist for this August’s opening, and we’re already fielding applications and accepting students for the fall of 2026! Anyone looking for more information or ways they can help can go to sandamianotrades.org, call us at (217) 572-9222, or send any mail to 4875 La Verna Road, Springfield, IL 62707.

– Dr. Kent Lasnoski is president of San Damiano College for the Trades in Springfield.