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Emily Parnell
on May 25 2013 - 06:00 AM
Do you want something great to happen? You better start doing something.
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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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Senior year, St. Mary's High School, me (left) with my Polish friend, Joanna Zagorowska.
It was announced on Facebook (and later the news) that my old stomping grounds, St. Mary's High School, was finally closing.
My heart was heavy. Even though it was my birthday yesterday, I felt a little stormy-blue.
The Kansas City Star reported that "Bishop Robert Finn of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph announced that a lower-than-expected enrollment projection for the coming school year is compelling the diocese to close the school and help families find new options for 2013-2014."
Not a surprise.
Every Catholic school I've attended has closed. Sometimes there's just not enough support. St. John's in Kansas City closed, Holy Family in Independence and now good ol' SMH.
SMH has been around for 160 years. It's one of the oldest high schools in the area.
Even though we didn't have anything "fancy," (no air-conditioning, no band) we still had top-notch teachers. SMH was a college prep school, so if you took honors classes you could get credit towards college. (Thank you Mr. Young, for not having to take a history/government course at UMKC!)
Academics were priority.
Everyone knows that teachers and staff don't get paid a ton at Catholic schools, a sign that they stay because of the love for teaching in a faith-filled community.
All Catholic schools strive to empower children to achieve full academic and Christian potential. Catholic schools encourage students to be spiritual, moral and respectful.
It's definitely a place I will never forget. I met my husband there in 1995 at a school dance. We've been inseparable ever since.
It's the place where I played varsity volleyball, basketball and track & field. I went to state twice, once in volleyball (3rd place) and once in track for the shot put. There's still a dent in the new gym wall where I put my indoor shot put during practice.
Both my husband and I have athletic school records there. His in basketball and mine in track.
My coaches, Mr. Espinosa and Mr. Bates were an inpiration. They not only coached me to be a great athlete but they also disciplined me and taught me how to deal with both success and loss.
My in-laws attended SMH, where they met and later married. My husband's grandmother even graduated from SMH.
I also met my best friends, Jill and foreign exchange student, Joanna, at SMH. (I love you too, Elena, but we go way back and met at Holy Family!)
I remember the crazy times, too. When a classmate put a handful of crickets in the cafeteria microwave, when a group of seniors gathered lawn ornaments from around town and put them in front of school as a Homecoming prank, when a student in my math class broke a classroom window and pretended he was going to jump, when my sister passed away and everyone skipped class to come to the funeral services.
St. Mary's High School is a part of Catholic history, it's a part of my history.
Sure, my parents could have sent me to school for free, where there were thousands of kids and even more classes and activities to choose from. But they didn't, and for that I am grateful.
SMH is a family.
I hope that the new school, St. Michael the Archangel High School, will become a reality in 2015. I hope that kids will get the same family feel that I had and appreciate.
Problem is, more and more people who attended Catholic schools themselves have chosen not to send their kids to Catholic school.
Mostly because of money.
For us, you can't put a price on quality.
Even with our newly found Rasta-Catholic beliefs, we still believe in a Catholic education for our son.
R.I.P. SMH, you will forever live in the hearts and memories of all who embraced you.
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