St John High School - Blue Book Yearbook (Jackson, MI)

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Class Histor With furtive glances and shy smiles, the first grade class of 1938 assembled noisily one warm September morning in room 101. Sister Mary Felix greeted us with showers of warmth and welcome and launched us on our educational career. During this eventful and exciting year we staged dramatic talent for the first time in the Mother Goose Play. Who would have ever thought, then ,that our seven little dwarfs would some day attain the heights of manhood to which they have grown? The highlight of our spiritual life came on May 28, 1939, when the Reverend Father Wall, our pastor, administered our First Holy Communion. No longer the small fish in the ocean, we continued success- fully on our iourney to the second grade, where we were met by Sister Alexaida. Our ambitions were high and yet to be ful- filled. Soon we settled down to accomplish these obiectives, and as a reward for our fruitful labor merited promotion to the third grade. After two years in basement classrooms, we were again promoted to the first floor, much to our proud delight! Here under the gentle supervision of Sister Hilarion, our fourth-grade teacher, we patiently struggled to master the subjects pre- sented us. Mathematics proved to be the greatest problem of the year, yet we proudly say we solved it. Again, our spiritual life was enriched by our being confirmed by Bishop Joseph H. Albers. Our fifth year passed rather uneventfully, which was quite unusual for us. Sister Mary Egbert shared the teaching honors with Sister Lucelia. Athletic ability held the spotlight for the first time during the sixth grade, when urged on by the strong, firm hand of Sister Charles Edward, our progressive basketball team won the sixth grade city championship of 1944. Socially inclined, we found it necessary to have our first class picnic, which we held at Pleasant Lake. The whole class, without exception fell heir to a bad case of sunburn. Prominent memories of musical education first appeared during the seventh grade, when Sister Alice Patricia introduced two-part singing to the class. A strong feeling of rivalry in musical achievement existed between the seventh and eighth grades, but we have always considered ourselves as being superior. At last we found ourselves kings of the first floor: we were eighth-graders now. Many good times were had this year, however, the whole year was not all icy, the loss of our be- loved pastor, Father John Duffy, came as a shock and sorrow to all who knew and loved him. Finally, strongly fortified with ideals influenced by Sister Mary Bernard, the door of grade school closed behind us. New horizons were in sight. ln 1946, we made our debut as Freshmen. To help us off to a good start we elected Robert England, Helen Keller, Dan Chappell and Dorothy Pauwels as our class officers. We were now officially in High School, so we settled down to perform our small part of the activities. Under the capable direction of the ninth grade homeroom teachers, we staged our first pep meeting. The occasion of this performance was the annual St. John-St. Mary football game. Perhaps you recall some of those memorable scenes? The mock football game, the death and burial of one of their star players, and the grand finale, the Victory March, presented by the entire class. The religious highlight in our Freshman year came when Father Dominic conducted our first retreat. We soon found ourselves stepping out of the small shoes of Freshmen and into the bigger boots of Sophomores. Our main activity as Sophomores was to give the Seniors the best break- fast possible. We also sponsored a dance, with the cooperation of the Mother's Club, to obtain funds for the event. With the capable supervision of our homeroom teachers and our class officers, Dan Chappell, Dorothy Pauwels, Jerry Johnson and Pat Faulkner, we accomplished this duty successfully. During the course of the year we were taught the funda- mentals of ballroom and square dancing by Mr. Scott Colburn, of Ann Arbor. ln February, we made a tour of the Jackson Citizen Patriot. Our youthful minds were filled with the interesting facts of how a newspaper firm is operated. Another activity along the lines of publication was our own version of Caesar's Gallic War, a clever parody for the St. John,-St. Mary annual grid- iron battle. lt was distributed among the High School students as our contribution toward bolstering up the spirit for the big event. This year we were fortunate in having Father John Day conduct our retreat on May 3, 4 and 5. We ended this Sophomore year by celebrating the annual class picnic at Pleasant Lake. We spent the day participating in games, races, skating, with an occasional dip in the lake. We were feted with a delicious meal prepared by the Mothers' Club. Juniors! At long last we were nearing our goal of gradua- tion. This was our year of big business. lt was our iob to finance the social event of the year-the Junior-Senior prom. We conducted a successful turkey raffle and many school dances. It was during this year that we had the honor and privilege of taking part in the procession to welcome the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima. We were greatly impressed by the message of Our Lady. Our Junior retreat was ably conducted by Father Payne. He is remembered not only for this preaching, but also because he fell from the new pulpit in church. It was agreed by the Juniors and Seniors that the money usually used for the annual banquet should be donated to the fund for the new gym. This contribution was graciously re- ceived by Father Coyle, who commended the classes on this generous sacrifice. This was a big year in athletics. Our football team con- quered all league competition. The greatest triumph of the season was the defeat of our traditional rival, St. Mary's. Our revenge was sweet. To the tune of a 33 to 12 victory the Father Duffy Jug was returned to St. John's. Basketball honors were abundant, netting a total of four trophies. This was the year when some new leaders came to the fore. The officers were Jerry Johnson, Dorothy Pauwels, John Rugg and Virgilene Hagen. The day finally came, September 6, when we entered St. John's for our last year. This year saw the inauguration of the Student Spiritual Council, which succeeded in enriching the spiritual life of the lContinued un Page 421

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THERESA RUSSO A sweeter girl yuu'll never flnd, As generous, understanding and as Glee Club 'I-2-3 ROSEMARY SMITH Sweet. friendly, bright as the sun. Always likes to have a lot of fun. Glee Club 3 JOHN TOBIN Quiet,l'riend1y, kind al heart, When activities occur, he'll do his Acolyfe 'I-2-3-4 GERALD UPDIKE He gives his work earnest attention Ilis kindness too, deseres honorable tion. Cheerleader 2, Boys' Chorus 3 MARLENE WARD Always smiling you will llnd her, Daring, fun, and a friendly manner Glee Club 2-3, Sodcalify Prefect 2 21 kind part Illtfll

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ElHSSlS SENIORS IN CLASS E 3 x 3 23