St Mary High School - Marian Yearbook (Marion, OH)

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movement of young life - and moving through the little crowds were the Sisters, happyeeyed, yet watchful that fair play and clean fun always carriefl first place in young hearts. ln the little church on Pros pect Street the Sisters gathered their charges toe gether to instill reverent conduct and a prayertul spirit at the Holy Sacrifice. By the turn of the cen- tury the St. Mary enroll- ment had reached two hundred titty, with seven Sister-teachers. A convent adjacent to the school at 274 North Prospect Street was built for the Sisters' needs. A high school had been organized, oftering both an academic and commercial program. Pu- pils of the school volune teered their time and tal- ent for a choir to make possible the celebration of the Missa Cantatag while generous-hearted boys as- sisted the priest in the role of acolytes.

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of Charity and St. Mary School man, pastor of St. Mary parish in Marion, petitioned the Motherhouse at Mount St. Joseph for Sisters to teach in the school he had built. The educational principles of the Sisters of Charity whom he had chosen are rooted in the realization of the individual dignity of each child of God. Their program, conforming in external standards to the requirements of the Ohio State Department of Education, educates the child of two worlds for Christian living in his modern world, with a definite aim to prepare him for eternal living in a heavenly home. Their schools, wherever they may be, bear the distinctive marks Mother Seton emphasized in the structure of her Maryland school. These include alloting definite time to the study of the truths of Faith, molding the will to the acquisition of Christian virtue, creating a school atmosphere conduc- tive to achieving these ends, and insisting on respect on obedience for authority. This philosophy of education the school at Marion has shared with all others conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. The little black cap and the neat black habit became a sight familiar to Marion residents who passed the first school on North Main Street. At recess time, the playground, until then a voiceless empty plot, burst with the shouts and ' l A x gf' A' I--fb d l l I eff X Qflll .--t ei . .,,,,.., f f X T 5 . i'f':SE? .ig '5 3 A. . ,iii 55- E L A, it-'A' ju, ,.', h ,... I gli . .V- w k , TV.-x x hmxly N Fl .:

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,A 5 g . 4 3 v BELLES OF ST. MARY'S When the present church on Main Street was completed in 1898, the old church on Prospect Street was used for a time for an overflow of classes from the Main Street school. Under the pastorate of Father Denning the main section of the present school on Prospect Street was built, containing eleven comfortable rooms equipped with a teacher's dream of blackboard space, comfortable desks, and large main hall. This building was completed in 1905, and the property from the church to George Street was purchased and cleared for a school play- ground. In keeping with the educational trends of the 1920's an east wing was add- ed to the school for the purpose of setting up a laboratory for the study of science and of enlarging the commercial department. This proiect was begun and com- pleted in 1927 in the pastorate of Father Cotter. Father Spickerman, his succes- sor, realizing the advantages to youth of organized sports, built up a worth- while athletic program in the school. Football and basketball teams were form- ed, coaches contracted, and games scheduled through the Ohio Athletic Associ- ation with other schools of comparable enrollment. The day of the Fighting Irish had dawned. Since the faculty had increased to fifteen members, an addition to the rear of the original convent was built, it included a chapel dedicated to St. Mary