Notes on my Catholic School Education

I attended Holy Name Catholic School from  first through eighth grade.  We were taught by the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis.  They traveled from their home office in Pennsylvania out to South Dakota, a journey fraught with worry over the terrible conditions they would encounter out here in the provinces.  

I was quite interested, and kind of intimidated, by these women, dressed as they were in veils and long black habits, and a long rosary at their side.  They all had odd names, except for their first names, which were all the same, Mary. Sister Mary Flaventia 

Sister Mary Veneranda , Sister Mary Henriella,  Sister Mary Wilhelmina (7th and 8th grades, lucky us!)  Sister Wilhelmina was kind of mean, in fact, we called her Sr. Wills a mean one behind her back, although I can't remember exactly why.   Third and fifth grade teachers were lay teachers, Mrs. Morrison in 3rd (when we had 50 kids in our class), and Mrs. Bachman in 5th (she read us all the Little House Books.)

In 7th grade, when the state mandated physical education, our PE teacher was a volunteer from the church.  She was about 4'6" tall and really old!  I can't remember her name, but I do remember, and practice some beauty tips she taught us girls.  She also taught us to square dance, which we got to do with the boys!

Mostly I remember the sisters being kind, sometimes crabby or impatient.  Were they perfect?  Absolutely not--no more than any other teacher facing a classroom of imperfect kids.

They were disciplinarians--so we learned self-discipline.

They were very firm on good manners.  We stood whenever an adult came into the room.  In fact, the girls had to curtsy, and the boys, bow when an adult entered our classroom.  

We had to say, "Good morning, Sister!" and "Yes,  Sister" and "No, Sister"  If we were going out the door, we knew to hold the door for any and all adults that were also going out.  We had to stand when called on to answer a question in class.  We certainly were well-mannered by the time we graduated from 8th grade.  It certainly set us apart when we went to public school in 9th grade.  Our teachers there told us we didn't need to stand to answer questions in class, but those habits were hard to break!!  I still have excellent manners, I am happy to say.  I don't interrupt when people are engaged in conversation, for example...

We learned to work by having to clean the new convent from top to bottom!  It was fun!

We had to sit with our hands folded on our desk, and maintain eye contact with Sister when she was speaking to us, so we learned to pay attention.

The sisters taught us a lot about not thinking "impure thoughts".  I'm sure I didn't really understand what that meant, but I know now--and I'm glad that they were faithful about teaching us.  

We also learned about staying away from "bad companions"--also a truth, which a person should know.  Many a person has been led astray by bad companions.

They taught about refraining from sin in "thought, word and deed"--something I pray about nearly every day.   We learned about keeping a short account with God--that is confessing our sins daily.  We learned that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that he rose from the dead--both events were important for our salvation. 

Many of us, myself included, attended daily Mass before school.  We said the Stations of the Cross each Friday during lent.  We prayed the rosary in school, a practice I continued even as a teenager.  

The day of the Kennedy assassination, we were ushered down to the church, where we prayed for our President.

I have to say that we received an extraordinary education back in the 60's at Holy Name School.  We didn't always like it at the time, but looking back, I can see the important things that we were taught, in addition to the usual subjects.

Thanks, Dad, for sending me.