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BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
ATHENS--Teachers, students and other friends, past and present, gathered at
St. Joseph’s School Sept. 25 to celebrate 50 years of Catholic education
and the hard work and sacrifice of those who have made it possible.
Sister Teresa Ballisty, IHM, principal, welcomed supporters gathered in the
late afternoon sun for the dedication. They included Superintendent of Schools
Sandra Smith, Ph.D., Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart, who formerly
ran the school, and Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who lead
it now.
Standing by a framed papal blessing for the school, Archbishop John F.
Donoghue rededicated the facility for service to the people of Athens. Student
council president Courtney Gregg carried a school banner.
As the sun set, Archbishop Donoghue led the crowd into the school and down a
hallway lined with photos of first and second generation students, student
essays on St. Joseph’s and other items, blessing these areas with holy
water as he proceeded to the church. There, he celebrated the Mass of
dedication that was concelebrated by St. Joseph’s pastor Father Joseph
Chaloux and parochial vicar Father Joy Nellissery.
Archbishop Donoghue spoke on the benefits of charity at St. Joseph’s
and elsewhere. He recalled how, as a boy, he would ask his brothers to help out
with yard work and washing the porch. They often refused, but sometimes they
agreed to help which made him happy.
“This is a simple example, but it happens to us in many ways -- our
helping each other, our helping our parents or teachers, our helping old people
who can’t do much for themselves anymore, and need all the helping hands
they can get. When we offer this kind of help, sure, we might be delaying going
outside and having a good time, or getting back to that book or that computer
game that we’ve been trying to get to all day, but helping others still
makes us feel better than we did before, and it makes the work we have to do
well worth the effort.”
He noted that those who practice kindness toward others have a much easier
time finding others to help them in times of personal crisis. He said it is
also easier to ask God for help.
“… If we are used to helping one another, and asking for help from
each other, then won’t it be that much easier for us to ask God for help
when the time comes, and to see the help that He will send us?”
While people might feel bad, tired or stubborn, he urged them to do
God’s will through prayer, by loving him, participating in the sacraments
and by obeying him. He said the school’s history reflects the meaning of
helping others and God.
“The priests and sisters, the dedicated parents and teachers, and the
many students who have come here to this school to learn, all are a record of
how this parish prays and loves God, and how, with His help it takes care of
itself,” he said. “I know, that for the next fifty years, and beyond,
with His blessing, things will go as well as they are going now, and maybe even
better. And I would be willing to bet, that if we continue to pray and ask for
God’s blessings, He will come through for us, this year, next year, and
for all the years that this school stands.”
Following the Mass, the principal said the ceremony was “a
milestone” for Catholic education in Athens and for the vision of the
first pastor, Father Harry Clark, who dreamed of a Catholic school for the
region.
One who has benefited, JoAn Lewis Salloum, an alumna of the second
graduating class of nine students, recalled that 50 years ago the small number
of Catholics in Athens were less accepted by the surrounding community. She is
very grateful for the school’s growth.
“I’m just real proud to see the school that has now over 400
students. The school has grown and flourished in the community. It is respected
in this area. It serves the Catholic community, but it also serves the
non-Catholic community ... It’s a community school,” she said, and
the first private one in Athens.
Under the direction of then pastor Father Walter Donovan, the school opened
in September 1949 in the bottom floor of the rectory, with 35 students, staffed
by the Missionary Sisters. In 1968 the order withdrew and, after a desperate
search by the parent-teacher association for a new religious order to staff the
school, the IHM sisters arrived in 1969. To accommodate the growing student
body of 300, the parish raised funds to construct and open a new building in
1984 that housed both the school and the parish religious education program.
Today the school has grown to include over 400 students in kindergarten through
eighth grade.
Sister Ballisty, who became the principal in 1993, thanked former staff
members and supporters for their contributions.
“We’re able to praise God to have a school … to thank them
for all the sacrifices that they’ve made and that we are able to continue
to grow.”
In addition to a dinner and dance Sept. 25, other anniversary events
included a school play on the history of St. Joseph’s, a school spirit day
and a family picnic. Sister Ballisty began meeting with parents, faculty and
school board members a year ago to plan the various events.
Her order’s primary charism is education and Sister Ballisty said that
the school has a strong and diverse faith community that is 66 percent
Catholic.
“With our population of Catholic/non-Catholic, we’re very strong
in teaching the Catholic doctrine and the religious formation so that the
children learn that there is diversity, but learn the truth of the Catholic
faith,” she said.
For Susan Gearhart, school secretary for 33 years and the mother of three
school graduates, the event “was like a walk back in time.”
“It brought back so many wonderful memories … The only thing that
would have been nice was if more of the ex-principals and teachers and pastors
and priests could have been here.”
She has many fond memories there including the construction of the new
school building and, her favorite, Susan Gearhart Day, where she was honored
for 25 years of service. Laughing as she recalled how she was originally asked
to fill in temporarily in her position, Gearhart said that the school has
become her second family. She particularly enjoys getting to know students
whose parents once were students.
“I could just never describe the joy I’ve had here in meeting
people. It’s so easy to be comfortable in a place where everything is
centered on love and religion. It’s nice to be here and not have to drive
back for Holy Mass at 7 p.m. at night. It’s just a special, special
place.”
Recalling darker days at the school, she noted that through the years St.
Joseph’s has experienced several deaths and medical emergencies of
students or their family members, and that the sisters have been very helpful
in providing support during these times. Gearhart also recalled when the
Missionary Sisters were withdrawn and the school almost closed.
“It was a very, very sad time … It was a struggle and we made
it,” she said.
Sister Judith Anne Kreipe, IHM, of Philadelphia, who served as math teacher
and principal from 1969-79, was one of the nuns who attended the dedication.
She said her time at St. Joseph’s was one of the happiest of her life.
“There was a deep spirituality here and I haven’t found that
spirituality any other place. The depth of the spirituality was really
life-giving. They were probably the happiest 10 years of my life … We
really felt that we were doing something for the students, for the parents, for
Georgia.”
She enjoyed seeing the second generation of students with that same spirit.
“It’s an experience of seeing the children of the children I
taught standing on the altar serving -- that idea of the next generation
stepping in. It’s just wonderful to see that continuity, to look at their
expressions and see their parents’ eyes.”
Salloum, 60, who has had 12 family members attend the school and whose
parents were one of the six families to help start it, pointed to the classroom
where she stayed for four grades with the same teacher. Now it has become part
of the church facility. She easily recalled, with gratitude, the benefits of
St. Joseph’s.
“It gave me good study skills. It gave me a lot of focus in my life. It
made me care about people. It gave me a caring spirit. It enriched my
religion.”
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