Redemptorist High School - Almarre Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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'N 4 A 1 1 l retreat September 2-5 was made by the children to prepare them for study. The school was taught by two Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters Thecla and Hermina, who came every morning from St. Joseph Orphan Home. The following teachers, Sisters Blanche, Patricia, Annunciata, Blandina, Gabriel, Catherine, Eugene and Imelda were associated with the school in subsequent years. There were many difficulties to be encountered in those days. This part of the city was little better than a wilderness, as Broadway and our other well- paved streets were then unknown. In those days cows could be seen contentedly strolling through the shady lanes close by. Nowadays we must quickly detour lest the elegantly'outf1tted blue buses that speed along Broadway should maim or cripple us for life. In May, l889, the first communicants found it rather toilsome traveling to get to church on account of recent heavy rains. Five or six inches of mud i As We WERE IN 1898 and white slippers do not go well together. The only way out of the difficulty was to Pick up thy white clothes and walk. They could be seen trudging along to the school to don the finery which they had carried in large boxes in their arms. There was no dressing room, so the girls draped their coats of many hues over a chart of maps. This served the needs of the occasion. When all were ready, they marched to the church. Under the capable and zealous direction of the Fathers and the Sisters the school flourished and rapidly expanded in growth. As time went on larger quarters had to be provided and another school was erected at the corner of Hunter Know Linwoodl and Wyandotte. Archbishop Glennon of St. Louis, then coadjutor to Bishop' Hogan, laid the cornerstone July 3, l898, and blessed I 1 I A -Q 1- H W,-W ,--W...-... WA M-,, -?-.3T Aiilf--f Thirty-two

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SEL? m .- r .......- gi1 l 7 f R6CZ6771.ff0T7iS'f .Selma H1story o Redemptorist School is th - outgrowth of the little two-room frame building which in I886 was built at Thirty-fourth Street and Broadway. On July 4 of that year Very Reverend William Loewekamp, Father Provincial made an I--I -2- I-11 lilll '-' lllllilllnlullllll ll n1.1.v.m.'.'umw.av.:-as-E-H ll-ll-----i-!--!--I----IE? llllll-Ill---I------I It lnlunlllnll -.---I IH-IIIHIIII-E-: HHl-5-gg Illlllllllllllt lllllllllllllllh s s sl 'lll2 a - , lllllllllllllllllli 7 r 7-'la As WE WERE IN 1886 appeal for a parochial school. At once the members of the congregation sub- scribed 5800. Including the furniture, the building cost 5990. Father Cook, C. Ss. R., preached at the blessing of the building. A I 221' Thirty-one

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k N f W9 r 'Rf' 1 ix 1 the building October 3 of the same year. This building was converted into the convent home for the Sisters two years ago. For several years the curriculum was limited to the grades, but in 1904 it was considered best to open the high school department, and to add one class each year so that the pupils who wished to carry on higher work might have an opportunity to do so. In 1908 there was one girl graduate, Miss Josephine Mangan. Three pupils graduated the following year, and two in 1910. Then the high school was discontinued, but was reopened in 1913. The fol- lowing year a commercial course was offered. From a total attendance of forty in 1913, the high school has since grown till it now has a daily attendance of two hundred sixty. Again in 1919, the enrollment was such that all could not be accom- modated in the school, and for the four succeeding years, the Fathers gave up the old chapel, which had been the first Redemptorist Church, to serve a twofold purpose of study-hall and classrooms. We can trace the progress of Catholic ideals and efforts, like silent currents, ever lengthening and widening with the advance of better facilities and higher standards, until finally culminating in the handsome structure, the model elementary and up-to-date high school which is our pride today. In 1923, Father A. Chapoton, C. Ss. R., drew up the plans for the building which we now occupy. Work was soon begun but in a short time Father Chapoton was transferred to another field of labor, and through the able administration of his successor, Father J. J. Gunn, C. Ss. R., our present rector, was dedicated Right with impressive cere- building cost about the vast dream became a reality. When the new school Reverend Thomas F. Lillis, formally blessed the school monies, after assisting at Solemn High Mass. The S360,000. We of the Redemptorist School think that it is one of the finest in the United States. The building has thirty rooms and is used for both the elementary and high school students. The fame of the work done at Redemptorist was soon broadcast-not by radio, though-and the school became recognized throughout the city. Our school is affiliated to the State University. Both classical and commercial as well as courses in Physical Education and Household Arts are offered. The teachers strive to cultivate the minds and hearts of those entrusted to their care and to develop in them the power to perform their duties to Cod and fellowman. It is commonly said that a school may be rated in terms of its student product. During these years many boys and girls have passed through the portals of Redemptorist School into the busy world: a goodly number have given their lives to God by following the call to the pri-esthood and the religious life, while others carrying on the good spirit of the school are engaged in' home duties or other social activities. We are justly proud of our school. This living monument testifies to the deep interest of the Redemptorist Fathers, who realize so well that the greatest asset to any church is its parish school, and who, regardless of sacrifice, have not spared themselves, but have provided every facility.for Catholic higher education, thus making our school second to none. ROWENA MoLlNc, '2 7. 1 Tga,.,- ' Thirty-three