August 28, 2009
Good Shepherd School to celebrate fiftieth anniversary
Third grade teachers Patty Woolen and Courtney Wahl stand with Judy Van Hoosier, principal, at the history timeline of Good Shepherd School prepared by third grade students as part of the celebration of the school’s fiftieth anniversary, Sunday, Aug. 30. (Message photo by Paul R. Leingang) Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
“Just like company coming” said Judy Van Hoosier, principal at Good Shepherd School, talking about last minute preparations for Sunday — the celebration of the school’s fiftieth anniversary.
It is 50 years old but it looks like a new school — and in many ways, it is. Since the devastating fire of Dec. 6, 2006, a new parish center has replaced and expanded the old “Bingo Room.” The entire school has been renovated.
The “company” coming will include alumni from the 50 years of Catholic schooling, parish pastors, school principals and teachers, parish families and friends.
What the company will find when they come will include photo displays of First Communions and Graduations, a student-drawn timeline of the school’s history, collages of pictures from over the years — and of course, the chance to meet teachers and principals and fellow students from the five decades begun in 1959.
Returning families will find a stable enrollment of students and a lot of familiar faces. Student-faculty connections run deep at God Shepherd. First day enrollment was 327, one more than last year’s first day, and seven more than the number at the end of last school year.
The familiar faces will include Judy Van Hoosier, principal since 1998, who was in the first class to graduate from eighth grade at Good Shepherd in 1959. Among those returning to celebrate the anniversaary will be Providence Sister Edna Scheller, who was principal when Van Hoosier first began her teaching career in 1969-1970.
Patti Woolen, a 1967 graduate of Good Shepherd, teaches third grade at Good Shepherd — and among her former third grade students is Courtney Wahl, a 1999 graduate who now partners with Woolen teaching third grade.
A commemorative booklet compiled by Brian S. Lankford for the occasion includes the memories of early principals.
The first principal, Providence Sister Annette Schipp, recalls being “quite impressed” at the “beautiful new building” in 1959 — and then discovering that “we had no desks, no books, no supplies.”
For that first year, men from the parish sanded and repaired desks purchased by the pastor, Father James Hannigan, from the public schools. They also painted and repaired teachers’ desks and file cabinets from Camp Atterbury. Women from the parish made curtains from parachute material, also purchased from Camp Atterbury.
Providence Sister Mary Fran-ces Keusal, principal from 1961 to 1966, recalls how four Provi-dence Sisters lived in three classrooms of the school.
“We never had to worry about getting wet when it rained or having to walk through the ice and snow in the winter . . . . We had everything under one roof — the church — the school — and our living quarters.”
The commemorative booklet lists all of the principals and all of the pastors — from Father Hannigan through the current leadership of Deacon Ed Wilkerson as Pastoral Life Coordinator and Father Attila Fröhlich as Sacramental Minister.
Good Shepherd Church was founded in 1955; the school opened in 1959. School additions were completed in 1994 and 1997. Original classrooms were renovated in 2002. Following the fire in 2006, the entire school was renovated, the original church which had become a multi-purpose building was torn down and the new parish hall was completed in April of this year.