High School Memories of the Sisters
The School Sisters of Notre Dame will be celebrating anniversaries in June — 175 years since their founding and 150 years in our diocese. It only took them 12 years after they arrived in the United States to find the Belleville diocese. Their history unfolds with the opening and staffing of schools, but some of us had, if not personal relationships with the sisters in our Catholic schools, certainly teacher-student relationships.
While my encounters with the sisters were not always pleasant — I seemed to travel to the edge of the rules — one particular sister made a dramatic impression on me during my junior year in high school. Throughout our elementary school years, we wondered if the sisters had feet since they seemed to float along with their floor-length skirts. The rest of the habit — that covered their hair and probably interfered with their hearing, also made peripheral vision impossible. That worked to our advantage occasionally, but I decline to elaborate on that.
Sister Jane Marie taught English and public speaking at the Academy of Notre Dame in Belleville. She must have been in her early 20s at that time. She had the most piercing green eyes that flashed with enthusiasm and maybe a bit of mischief although I would not have recognized it then. Her skin was peaches and cream — at least what you could see of her face. She was, in short, young and vibrant and seemed really interested in her students and what they learned. She also noticed if we were slacking off and instead of berating us, she encouraged better habits.
Only one other sister at that time caught my attention and remains fixed in my memory. That would be Sister Francis de Sales. She will forever remain standing on her desk, brandishing her ruler as she expounded on some aspect of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” She was incredibly talented — and really old — but I never noticed because I was transfixed by her teaching skills.
Those two women, young and old, represent to me, the finest in educational experiences with the sisters in a Catholic school. They cared about their students; they cared about what they were teaching; and they were relentless in making sure we were exposed to the very best they had to offer, even if, at the time, we may not have been prepared to accept it.
I certainly have other memories far less compelling or complimentary of my teachers there, but because of those two women, I consider my high school education a success. Many girls passed through the halls of the Academy of Notre Dame and the countless elementary schools where they taught. Today, we can find a few of them scattered throughout the diocese in parishes and schools. We are lucky they decided 125 years ago to come to the diocese and to stay.
