IHM: Previous School of the Month October 2008

School of the Month - October 2008

Featuring St. Patrick School - Carleton, Mich.

Two lay teachers taught at the tiny log chapel used for St. Patrick School in Carleton, Mich., when it opened in 1848. When the parish built a new school in late 1867, three IHM Sisters traveled the 14 miles from Monroe and opened the school in February 1868.

The 120 students were the children of German and Irish immigrants. The parish called the west side of the school "St. Joseph." The German-American children, most of whom spoke no English, used it. The east side was "St. Patrick" and used by the Irish-American youngsters. The first year of the new school must have been a bit challenging for the sisters. When the chronicler wrote the following year that, "...the sisters had the satisfaction of seeing an entire change for the better in the little souls entrusted to their care," her relief was clear.

Enrollment dropped and, by 1881, only two teachers remained "on account of the small number of children and the classes being arranged differently, the Germans put with the others."

The new century brought changes to St. Patrick School. Enrollment increased to 130 in the early 1920s, but by 1929, "Our enrollment was 85...The younger people are moving to the cities...We have poor prospects for the future."

Those "prospects" improved, and although St. Patrick would never be large, it began to thrive. When the school acquired a bus in the mid-1940s, many of the children who had been attending public school were now able to get to St. Patrick. Five IHM Sisters staffed the school. The school added uniforms in 1952 and a telephone in 1956. The first mention of school athletics in the convent chronicles was May 1966, when "A trophy was presented to the basketball team which had gone through the complete season undefeated."

During our Featured Class Year, 1971, Sister Irene Therese Gumbleton was principal. Faculty won a basketball game against the students. They had been able to "practice during lunch hour before the big game and it paid off." The Christmas play was snowed out on Dec. 22 and rescheduled for Jan. 6, edited to reflect the post-Christmas festivities.

Graduation for the 34 eighth-graders in the Class of 1971 was June 8. The Rev. Zdrowski, pastor of St. Patrick Church, celebrated Mass and distributed diplomas. The graduates later enjoyed a party planned by the mothers of the seventh-grade students.

St. Patrick School survived the passage of Proposal C barring aid to Michigan nonpublic schools and maintained an average enrollment of 200 students throughout the 1970s and '80s. The last IHM Sister left St. Patrick School in 1994. The school remains open and active, serving students in grades K-eight. A half-day preschool program is also available two days a week.

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Trivia - 1971

In 1971

United Nations Secretary General U Thant signed the proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

Five hundred thousand people in Washington, D.C., and 125,000 in San Francisco marched in protest against the Vietnam War.

The United States, United Kingdom, USSR and others signed the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.

Intel released the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.

Coco Chanel, Igor Stravinsky, Jim Morrison, Louis Armstrong and Ralph Bunche died.

The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles in seven games in the World Series. The Milwaukee Bucks swept the Baltimore Bullets in four games for the NBA Championship. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Chicago Black Hawks in seven games for the Stanley Cup.

The Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Superbowl V. It was the first Super Bowl played in the merged National Football League, as well as the first played on artificial turf.

Simon and Garfunkle were big winners at the Grammy Awards. Their Bridge Over Troubled Water won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. Patton won an Oscar for Best Picture.

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