# Dream Bigger: How One Small Catholic School Turned Everything Around Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-catholic-school-leaders-podcast-6760827/dream-bigger-how-one-small-catholic-school-turned-everything-around Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-catholic-school-leaders-podcast-6760827/dream-bigger-how-one-small-catholic-school-turned-everything-around.md Podcast: [The Catholic School Leaders Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-catholic-school-leaders-podcast-6760827) Published: 2026-04-22T01:27:58+00:00 Episode link: https://cslp.bepodcast.network/episodes/dream-bigger-how-one-small-catholic-school-turned-everything-around Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/5748e5d8/116e8015.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-catholic-school-leaders-podcast-6760827/episodes/dream-bigger-how-one-small-catholic-school-turned-everything-around Duration seconds: 3698 ## Resource Host: John Mihalyo Guest: Tara Nelson, Advancement & Enrollment Director, Parkersburg Catholic Schools The Catholic School Leaders Podcast Episode Overview Three years ago, Parkersburg Catholic Schools was facing declining enrollment, financial uncertainty, and rumors in the community that the school might not survive. Today, they are raising $500,000 for a campus consolidation project backed by a 3-to-1 diocesan match of $1.5 million and they are ahead of schedule. In this episode, John sits down with Tara Nelson, the advancement and enrollment director who has been at the center of this transformation, to talk about how they rebuilt trust, grew their community, and created a culture where dreaming bigger became the expectation not the exception. Key Takeaways 1. Trust has to be rebuilt before dollars will follow. Families and donors won't invest in a school they aren't sure will still be open. Parkersburg Catholic started small — fixing the ice machine, securing new front doors and showed their community that when they said something would happen, it happened. 2. Parish partnerships have to be a two-way street. The school shows up at all five of their parishes every single month. Not just to ask for support but to give it. That intentional relationship is a big reason their community showed up when it mattered most. 3. Word of mouth marketing is free and it is powerful. A simple end-of-year video from their elementary principal went into the tens of thousands of views and helped grow their Facebook following from 1,200 to nearly 3,500. You don't need a big budget. You need an authentic story worth telling. 4. Intentionality is everything. Nothing happening at Parkersburg Catholic is accidental. From who speaks at Sunday Mass to when posts go out on social media tâ€Ĥ ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-catholic-school-leaders-podcast-6760827/episodes/dream-bigger-how-one-small-catholic-school-turned-everything-around/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-catholic-school-leaders-podcast-6760827/dream-bigger-how-one-small-catholic-school-turned-everything-around.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.