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

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REVEREND FRANCIS X. COTTER 1 ,x X .1 ti '71 al .1 5-3?M,4rtgi12Sgqn1,,5 X - ..,. . aw 't Goretti, a refectory, kitchen, bedrooms, and baths. ln the school basement in 1949, a modern home economics kitchen was installed, as well as new lavatories and shower rooms. Although intended for the use of the whole parish, the school children benefited in their own way by the construction of Moira Hall in the basement of the church. From its foundation in 1875 until 1944, St. Mary School was part of the educational system of the Archdiocese of Cincin- CHlLDREN'S CHOIR

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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

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W nati and subject to its Superintendent of Schools. When St. Mary's parish was transferred to the Columbus diocese following the death of Bishop Hartley in 1944, the school automatically came under the iurisdiction of the Columbus diocese with Bishop Ready as the newly consecrated chief shepherd. Today St. Mary School functions with its standards, program, and equip- ment approved by the Department of Education of the State of Ohio and the Superintendent of Schools of the Columbus diocese. Its school population is 160 on the secondary level and 425 on the elementary. A school bus purchased in 1950 is the outcome of the zeal of Catholics to give their children in the rural district an opportunity for a Catholic education. Instruction classes conducted by the Sisters on Sunday mornings provide for many whom the bus service has not yet reached. ACOLYTES-1898 vii Wx U M v . 5 -1-4 U 7111 .L V