McAuley High School - McAuleyan Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 6 text:

In 1964, McAuley High School honored its first graduating class with the celebration of commencement exercises. There, girls remembered fondly their days as freshmen with pride and fulfillment; they remembered their joys and sorrows, their problems and triumphs in being known as the first class of McAuley ... Because of the tight conditions at Mercy in 1958, the Archdiocese asked the Sisters of Mercy to open a new school in the Cincinnati Area. The Sisters of Mercy consid¬ ered this a privilege and another opportunity to bring the gospel to young women. With the donation of the land by Archbishop Alter, and the $3,000,000 loan used for the building, they held the formal ceremony of the ground breaking in August, 1958. This ceremony, along with the community mass at the cathedral and the tea in the Archbishop ' s arbor, were among the features of the celebration of the Sisters of Mercy ' s centenary of their work in the Archdiocese. McAuley wasn ' t supposed to open until the building was thoroughly complete; however, in 1960, an excessive number of freshman registered at Mercy. It was decided that McAuley would open early to support the girls who wished to attend catholic high schools. The provincial appointed Sr. Mary Emily as McAuley ' s first principal, and Sr. Johanna, Sr. Amadeus, and Sr. Perpetua were also members of the new faculty. They had input, along with Mercy teachers, on the plans and uniform styles. So, a begun, but incomplete McAuley opened in 1960. The girls had only one floor of classrooms, no gym, and they had to trudge over construction to get from class to class. A cafeteria was lacking, and everyone ate lunch at the same time. The girls brown-bagged their food, although a huge cooler of milk was supplied. Finally, in May, 1960, the building was completed and named after Mother Mary Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Mercy Sisters. McAuley has come a long way since 1960. Before 1967, when the mod schedule was formed, periods were one hour long, consisting of 45 minutes of instruction and 15 minutes of supervised study for each subject. The drama department has grown and has been perfected in the training of its students and in the production of a musical each year. Since 1966, McAuley has entered a huge float in the St. Patrick ' s Day Parade. But the best illustr a¬ tion of our Irish heritage is present in the colors of our uniforms. The biggest change in McAuley deals with the Girls ' Ath¬ letic Program. In the 1960 ' s, students could participate in intramural activities and physical education classes. They also played crazy games ' ' against Mercy. The GGCL and the formation of interscholastic sports developed over the years, with soccer added in 1979. The McAuley senior class of 1964 has a right to feel even more proud than they did on their graduation day. But McAuley has progressed and changed, and the 1980 graduating class is the present symbol of the 20 years of growth McAuley has undergone since 1960. By: Teresa Armbruster PAGE 2: 1. Cindy Derrenkamp; 2. K. Rutz; 3. Mrs. Heibert ' s class; PAGE 3: IS. Maurer, Sister Eileen Marie; 2. C. Reising. 3. T. Geiger, Sister Eileen Marie; 4. P. Kordenbrock, R. Parsons; 5. C. Lamb; 6. B. Bigner; 7. A. Isaacs; 8. J. Drout; 9. L. Saunders.