Sisters see how much schools have progressed
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By Mary Louise Speer | Friday, February 01, 2008 |
Sisters from the Congregation of the Humility of Mary returned “home” Thursday to Lourdes Catholic School, a place where several taught school during the 1970s to ’90s.
For Sister Ann Leahy, the visit illustrated how far the Bettendorf school has progressed physically since her time there as principal and teacher from 1978-92.
The coffee reception and building tour were part of Lourdes’ celebration of 2008 Catholic Schools Week. Quad-City schools are celebrating the theme of “Catholic Schools Light the Way” with special masses, community service projects and prayers.
“We did a lot of dreaming when I was here, the secretary and I, of what it would be nice to have,” Leahy said. “I used to tell the teachers when I win the lottery, we’ll build a new school. They would tell me, but Ann, you have to buy a ticket.”
She enjoyed viewing how those dreams, envisioned in the former second-story principal’s office, have sprung to life over the years. During her time, four sisters from different orders and lay teachers instructed students. During her childhood in west Davenport, nuns were the primary instructors at St. Alphonsus School. At that time, sisters had fewer career options open to them, she said.
Having the Lourdes principal’s and administrative assistants’ offices located on the first floor, next to the entrance, is a good idea. Having a location on the second floor “was probably the worst place to be because you couldn’t see when people came into the building. I’m so glad they got that changed,” she said.
Because of increased security awareness, visitors must sign in now before being admitted into the building.
Jennifer Koning, now a kindergarten teacher at Lourdes, became teary when meeting Leahy and the former teachers. “She was my principal when I was here (1979-89) as a student. Everything was just very orderly, organized. It was a very happy environment,” Koning said.
“But like anything, we had our days,” Leahy said. Teachers had to be creative in the days before the parish center was dedicated in November 1984. Two classrooms on the first level served as the school‘s cafeteria and instructional area for special subjects.
Students participated in P.E. in a classroom located immediately above the cafeteria on the second floor, she said. It was furnished with low basketball hoops and sponge-like balls. “We had to be very strict to keep the voices down. That’s why it meant so much to us when we got the gym,” she said.
Leahy, also a former science teacher, marveled at the well-equipped stations and fixtures in the science room in the junior high wing constructed in 1998.
“Oh, this is wonderful,” Sister Marie Finnegan, a former third-grade teacher, said as she viewed children playing volleyball in the gym. “I was very happy here.”
She celebrates her 65th anniversary as a sister this year and spent six years at Lourdes during the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Sister Regina Mary Cratty taught fourth grade from 1987-98 in a classroom located next to the boys’ restroom. “That was all right because I knew where my kids were,” she smiled. “If they were gone too long, I would step to the door and say, ‘Are you getting a shave and a haircut?’ ”
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2245 or newsroom@qctimes.com.
Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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