Shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 27, during an all-school mass at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, a shooter armed with a rifle approached the side of the church and sprayed dozens of rounds through a stained-glass window toward worshippers inside.
Two children were killed and 21 other people were injured.
On the same day, St. Hedwig Catholic School in Los Alamitos was about to hold its first student mass of the new school year for its 500-plus students.
As news of the shooting was broadcast on news outlets, St. Hedwig Principal Chris McGuiness made two phone calls, one to the Los Alamitos Police Department and the other to the St. Hedwig Kilt Society, a group of fathers who stand watch over the school children each Wednesday as they go to and from their weekly mass.
Both groups were on site within minutes.
“We had a really big showing of guys that day,” said Mike Jowdy, president of the Kilt Society. “Even guys that called out of work just to be here.”
The men of the St. Hedwig Kilt Society had already been a reassuring presence before and after school masses for three years, called in to watch over the students as school shootings around the country raised concerns among the school community.
But in response to the tragedy at Annunciation Catholic School that morning, the men donning kilts showed up in much larger numbers than the usual seven or eight that stand watch during most school masses.
“Within 15 minutes, we had 15 guys in kilts,” McGinnis said. “All school shootings hurt, but that one rang different because the kids were in church. That is the tenet of what we do as a Catholic school. We go to Mass and worship together. And if there is any place in the world these kids need to feel safe, it is when they’re worshiping.”
The Kilt Society also keeps a watchful eye in front of the school as students are dropped off each morning.
“We make sure that there’s nobody coming in that shouldn’t be coming in,” Jowdy said. “We just have a nice presence all around all the time.”
During the three years they’ve been standing watch, the dads in the Kilt Society have never had to deal with a serious threat, he said.
However, there has been the occasional homeless person who wanders onto the property and needs to be redirected or community member who wants to attend the mass, not realizing the service is for the school kids only.
It happens that several members of the Kilt Society are police officers and firefighters.
“We’re here to protect the kids, ultimately to keep them safe from point A to point B,” said Kilt Society member Scott Sanzaro, a retired firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority. “We have people that are used to handling emergency situations so they aren’t going to get worried or overreact. So cooler heads will prevail if you experience that.”
The Kilt Society was founded in 2007, functioning as a booster group in its first years. The dad squad has grown over the years from about 15 members to 80 active members today, Jowdy said, adding that as the group has grown, “we become more and more active as far as fundraising.”
In addition to watching over the kids, the Kilt Society raises a healthy sum of money running the beer booth at St. Hewig’s annual Autumnfest, which features carnival rides, entertainment, food and games.
It also raises funds at other school events and took in enough money in the 2024-25 school year to award two $1,000 scholarships to students.
The dedicated group of fathers recently held a fundraiser for a teacher who was battling cancer.
Incidentally, St. Hedwig, who lived from 1174 to 1243, was the wife of Duke Henry of Silesia, of the Polish royal family, and mother of seven who, after her husband’s death, took vows to join the Cistercain convent at Trebnitz that he founded. She was canonized in 1267 and became the patron saint of brides, widows, the poor and those whose children have died.
But why the kilts?
That’s easy. St. Hedwig’s mascot is the Celtics.