By Julie and Rachel

December 1, 2004

8a

These pictures are of Immaculate Heart of Mary School. The Picture on the right is of when the building first opened in 1954. The picture on the left is the most recent picture of our school.

Father McIntyre founded Immaculate Heart Of Mary School in 1953. At that time, he held a prayer service on the ground that the school was going to be built on. In the years 1954 – 1955, Father McIntyre opened the doors Immaculate Heart of Mary school. The church was also being built at that same time. Over the next few years, the school made some dramatic changes. There were two new editions added to the school. The first addition was the right side of the school. The second addition was the parish Center, which is all of the area by the library and the gym. In June, sixteen boys and eight girls made up the first graduating class of Immaculate Heart of Mary grade school. This School has been around for fifty years.

The grades consisted of first through eighth grade. Both the first and second grade had two class rooms full of students, and grades three through eight all had only one class room. One teacher taught all the subjects per grade level. Each class per grade had around fifty-four to sixty students. The first principal was Sister Jane Br. Roslyn. There were many other principals after her, such as Sister Marian, Sister Miriam, Sister Helen, Mr. Mark, Mrs. Green, and our current principal Mrs. Nagel.

The uniform colors of Immaculate Heart of Mary school have changed over the many years I.H.M has been open. Their first uniforms were the same as St. Joseph schools uniforms, they consisted of blue with a green serge. After the blue uniforms the other uniform colors were green and gray plaid, the next uniform was green and blue. Currently, the uniforms are green and gold plaid. The boys uniforms were made up of white, or light blue collared shirts, ties, and the regular navy blue, or khaki uniform pants. The girls uniforms were collared shirts and skirts. The rules were: no make up, shirts of girls and boys must be tucked in, and the skirts had to be the proper length.

Through the years, Immaculate Heart of Mary School has always had testing, such as; The Iowa Tests, Midterms, and Finals. Some of the extracurricular activities at I.H.M consisted of Boy Scouts, Traffic Patrol, Choir, and Sacristy helpers. Also, classes went on fieldtrips to the Cleveland Zoo, Museums and many more educational places. The classes that the children took were; English, Math, Science, History, Literature, Religion, Spelling, and Music. It wasn’t until later that the children started to take Spanish.

The parking lot began as only stones, and later the school made it into a blacktop. After putting in the blacktop, the school put in the field for the kids to use. A few years after the blacktop was made and the field was put in, they built a playground for the children. Near the school was a convent that they had just put in after the playground. The convent opened July 25, 1959. A few years later the convent changed into a nursing home for any elderly people.

Reverend Edward F. Hoban was the Bishop who asked Father McIntyre to open the church community parish. The church parish held masses at the State Theater before going to the church. They did this because the church was still being built. The last mass held in the State Theater was on April 11, 1954 on Palm Sunday. The church finally opened in 1954. In the church, they brought over some of the chairs from the state theater because there wasn’t enough room for everyone to fit inside. The parish held the first mass at the new church on Easter Sunday in the year of 1954. When the church first opened, Robert Hanzo was the first associate that was assigned to the parish on June 7, 1956. During the mass only sixth, seventh, and eight graders were aloud to serve.

The two sides of the church were new editions in the years of 1975 and 1976. Father McIntyre would serve the Masses on the weekends and later Father Hanzo came to assist him. The parish held two Masses on Saturday, four Masses in the church on Sunday and one Mass in the school’s All Purpose room on Sunday. The children put on a Christmas play that would take place in the church on Christmas Eve. The children also had a year round choir group. The church also had a men’s choir that practiced year-long too. The students of Immaculate Heart of Mary school went to church everyday of the week.

The first Baptisms took place on the opening week of the church. On May 2, 1954, ninety two boys and girls made their First Holy Communion. Also, on May 29, 1954, the first wedding took place at the church. Father McIntyre retired as Pastor in 1978, after 25 years of being part of the amazing parish community. Father John Rathfon took his place and followed as pastor in the church. Father Rathfon retired in the year 1994. After his retirement, Father Thomas McCann took over as pastor. Our music Director, Mr. Jeff Mills, has been at Immaculate Heart of Mary for eight years. He continues to bless our church community with the music of our Lord. Mr. Mills plays the organ at the kid’s Masses, and also plays at the Sunday Masses.

There is one more wonderful addition to the church. In the recent years the parish added a of statue of Our Lady of Providence on the front lawn by the church. The statue reminds us of love, care, and protection from our Holy Mother, Mary.

This picture is the first eighth grade graduating class of Immaculate Heart of Mary School

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