Loretto Academy - Laurel Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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FINDING BEAUTY in new worlds, Sister Judith Mary with her 49 freshmen explore life at Loretto from newly varnished floors to our Chrisflike Women theme. TIME OUT Sister M» Ve nard seems to approve as s he listens to Loretto seniors line up future uccess» AS FIRST guidance counselor. Miss Conroy helps L. A. girls to realize the wideness of their world as they go onto college or a new job. To the right is Lee Hudson, having a lively talk with her. November 1962

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SISTER EUGENIE MARIE, Carol Carlew, and the art lab are three new things that are a part of our new Loretto. Ever seen (or been) a girl in her first corsage? She's as trembling and wide-eyed as her one-year-old brother who» just learning to walk. New worlds are before them- ami the hope and excitement that goes with new things TIi, one-year-old is just taking his first steps now, but befnr. long he’s going to run and climb trees and build tree forts and play baseball and swim and some day lose himself in all the dizzying discoveries of a summer, as The reader rampant relates. School is a new experience for him, no matter how many grades he has been through; sitting and squirming on a pocket full of slingshot rocks from 8: SO to S :00 is tough on a little boy, but once in a while, being caged in a desk doesn't bother him so much, as he sees the real reason why S apples multiplied by 4 pears equals noth- ing but fruit salad. A few more summers and school years and the boy that used to shove his hands into pockets full of sand and frogs finds his hands pinning on a first cor- sage, just like the one that made his big sister so dreamy- eyed a long time ago, as she looked into her world of new things: a big night first, and many more like it, she hoped. She has already learned to walk and run but now in high school she's learning to see, to probe into Poe and Chaucer, the structure of atoms, scalene triangles, the whys of American government, what makes frogs tick, and even learning to see herself and what makes her tick. She'll see her school and learn to appreciate teachers and find beauty in lots of things—in music and art and litcra- I ture and people she'd never dreamed of looking at before. She won't stop with the whys of studies or herself or even her school—she will realize the wideness of her world as she goes on to college or a new job. She'll set what hap- pens in an ecumenical movement when groups become whole-conscious and work for world understanding. She'll experience the tensity of a cold war when it comes to many hot points then subsides. In short, she and her brother both will discover many new, different things, not just in boyhood or as teenagers but always, because their vision grows, if they let it, to include the whole world. This year we're experiencing a little bit of their wonder at Loretto—a kaleidoscope of new things from a new polished hardwood floor in the downstairs hall right up to a new principal imported from St. Louis. This year’s assembly speakers and lusty-throated pep song singers make good use of the new white sound-absorbent ceiling in the auditorium. Ballet classes have the privilege of roll- ing and stretching gracefully on a bright newly varnished and painted gym floor. Twenty-five big new lockers will eventually hold assorted books, an odd number of shoes, basketballs or tennis rackets, mirrors and ratting combs, a few thousand photos and election stickers, not to mention other miscellaneous articles vital for survival. Besides the minor surgery on the school itself there are new people at Loretto this year. The sophomores, juniors, and seniors are back again of course, reincarnated into a higher year, a more advanced step in learning, getting a new look at Loretto and themselves because they are a year older now. This year has brought many new ideas, ideas that fas- cinate little boys and high school students both, like those S. Eugenic Marie brings so vibrantly alive in her art classes for grade and high school students, and like S. Ann Cecilia and S. Marian Louise, showing the beauty in music to beginners, middlers, and macstros. There are ideas like the the laurelette

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theme this year, and the new science club, that goes much beyond 3 apples times 4 pears. There are people to help Loretto girls to see, like S. Judith Mary, helping to probe into Poe and Chaucer, and why angels really can't have wings. Miss Conroy helps girls see themselves and just what makes them tick in her job as guidance counselor for the whole school. S. Mary Venard, the new principal imported from St. Louis, is a refugee from Nerinx Hall— her biggest job is keeping the school in line, especially the seniors, who have an impish habit of sneaking up and winning the Spirit Cup (see News page). The whole faculty, new or old, try to teach the love and the theme that Loretto is working to live this year—whether they do it in administrating, counseling, English or art classes, at a piano or behind a desk. n't 11 V This year there is a change in the Loretto you knew last year. But each girl has to decide the newness for her- self-—the change and challenge that this year presents, and meet this challenge for herself. For Loretto is a school full of girls in first corsages, with little brothers learning to walk and run; and they have lots to see and do, and the advantage they take of this thing, this new year, will last them for a long time. TEACHING the beauty of music falls under the duties of Sister Marian Louise, at the left, and. Sister Ann Cecelia, above. Both sisters have a full schedule of music makers (or breakers?) ♦he laurelette .