Here is a moral compass for the present and future. I attended private school St. Mary's Academy…read morestarting in 1963 then into 1969. Awhile back I stopped by for a visit after we took Amtrak to Denver to visit cousins. A welcome respite and all CDC rules were followed during my visit.
Filtered through the lens of nostalgia, I remember St. Mary's Academy enjoyably for I found it to be a caring, diverse and inclusive school with inspiring teachers in a culture of mentorship that fostered voice and helped forge pathways for all. I enjoyed and took pride in wearing the school uniform. I learned how to think and problem solve, confident in my potential, vested in responsibility to social justice and the health of humankind and the environment, and prepared for possibilities of an ever-changing world. I attended with girls of all races, religious traditions and economic backgrounds. I was taught how to think rather than what to think. Teaching strategies and curriculum challenged me to problem solve, collaborate and innovate -which provided the foundation for my fellow students and I to be powerful agents of change.
"You can't help when or what you were born, you may not be able to help how you die; but you can - and you should - try to pass the days between as a good man." That was written by Corporal Anton Myrer, US Marine Corps Veteran, WWII, wounded at Guam, who died of leukemia most likely Service-connected, in his best-selling and US Army War College required reading novel Once an Eagle, which was later adapted to a tv miniseries. The book is on the Marine Corps commandants' reading list and West Point Cadets are assigned the book in classes and seminars. He is best-selling author of The Last Convertible, an exquisite and sensitive novel of The Greatest Generation that was also adapted into a tv miniseries.
I mention Anton Myrer's quote about "good" because I am confident in the future when I see that schools like St. Mary's Academy are still educating youth. I am confident because here, youth are taught to be good people.
My most recent visit I learned something I was surprised I hadn't realized before. I learned that the Board of Trustees that governs St. Mary's Academy are all volunteers. It includes members of the Loretto Community, current and past SMA parents, alumnae, and business professionals from the Denver metro area.
I had previously known that the Board of Trustees meets during the school year and is responsible for assuring the financial future of the school, determining the yearly tuition, setting policies that will help further the school's mission, and hiring the Academy President. That's a lot of work for volunteers.
Honorable Ollie Marie-Victoire California Superior Court Justice and Jane Lubchenco the first woman to serve as Chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as 19th United States National Security Advisor and 66th U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are St. Mary's Academy graduates.
Although St. Mary's Academy, co-ed preK-7 and girl's high school, does not have a discount on the tuition for the children of Veterans, hence 4 stars instead of 5, it does have general tuition assistance funded by donors.
The Academy was founded in 1864, which was during the American Civil War. William Gilpin, first Colorado territorial governor, supported the Union and quickly raised a regiment. The United States War Department credited Colorado with supplying 4,903 to the Union Army.
I don't know how many of us who attended St. Mary's Academy went on to Serve in America's Armed Forces. My papa, uncles and male cousins were all The Greatest Generation WWII Veterans, a grandfather a WWI US Army Veteran, my family all Kennedy Democrats, fervently believed in the only US President to receive a Purple Heart President John F. Kennedy's Call to Service, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." St. Mary's Academy Mission is "St. Mary's Academy fosters excellence in each child through academic achievement, spiritual development, and service." (Assassinated) President Kennedy and St. Mary's Academy both challenge every American to contribute in some way to the public good. The magic of both is not what either promises us, but what both ask from us. That is the heart and soul of the thing we call Camelot. It is real and accounts for the reason that St. Mary's Academy still endures 158 years later as of this writing.
