Back-to-School Blessings
As children nationwide return to classrooms amid extraordinary circumstances, our Sisters share their beloved back-to-school memories
making phonics fun
Sister Rosalia Giba: “My favorite back-to-school memory is from when I was teaching grade school. I just loved every minute. I couldn't wait for the first day of school. For weeks before school started, I was busy making art decorating my classroom. I remember one year when I had first grade, I made big igloos and penguins with phonics words on them. It just happened that there was no border above the blackboard, so I used the entire wall from the blackboard to the ceiling. It looked like Antarctica. The look on the faces of those children made all my work worthwhile. And needless to say, they really learned their phonics.”
FUNNY ‘FIRST’ IMPRESSION
Sister Regina Ann Rokosny: “Ah, August! As I stood at homeplate in the old tennis court at Mt. Assisi ready to hit at least a single, little did I realize that, come September, I would be teaching first grade in Jersey City without my front tooth. I hit the ball with much gusto and ran even faster to first base, where Sister Theophane (Francis Jacko) stood determined to tag me out. There was little space between Sister, the base and the high metal fence enclosing the tennis court. No room to stop. The fence and I met face to face! The next day I was blessed with the news that my front tooth was damaged and had to be removed. Thank God I was teaching first grade so my students and I lisped our way together. No tooth until October 22. By the way, I knocked Sister Theophane over, too.”
an enduring excitment
Sister Maria Derecola: On returning to school each year I looked forward to getting my school clothes and supplies ready for the opening day of school. It was also a good feeling to know I would see my friends when school began. I also have these same feelings going back as a teacher.
a scary start
Sister Amata Shina: It was the first day of school in September at St. Matthias in Somerset, N.J. The children (more than 600 of them) were in the parking lot standing in line by grades. The last bus arrived, and the driver came to me to say that we needed an ambulance because one of the eighth-grade boys was having a breathing problem. I sent for the school nurse and called 911. When I saw the youngster, I really thought we had lost him, as he was gasping for breath. I knew that he was seriously asthmatic. I was the principal, and I was a basket case! One of the pastoral staff members came to me and said I needed to calm down, as the parents and children were watching me. The ambulance arrived, and I followed in a car with the school nurse. By the time we got to the emergency room, the student had received some relief from the medics. I called his dad to inform him of the situation and he came to the hospital shortly. Needless to say, I spent that first day of school in the emergency room. It is not a pleasant memory, but it is one I will not forget. When that young man meets me anywhere, he never passes me up. He always stops to chat. Today he is an accountant and is looking forward to marrying soon.
foresight as hindsight
Sister Pat Marie Buranosky: With a tea towel on my head, banging on my new blackboard, trying to instill knowledge into my siblings little heads ... this was the first sign of my religious vocation. I only knew teachers to be nuns!
No Pressure!
Sister Jean Makovsky: I remember, as a postulant and first-time teacher walking into a third-grade classroom with 35 students and having the provincial sitting in the back of the classroom with a pad and pencil every day for the first two months. I was grateful for all the feedback.
freshmen, football & fitting in
Sister Frances Marie Duncan: Some of my favorite memories of back to school were during my first year teaching at St. Peter’s Prep (an all-male Jesuit high school in Jersey City). I was in school decorating my room when I met a senior who was giving an incoming freshman a tour in the hallway. I greeted them and the senior asked if I needed anything. I said, “Thank you but I am fine. I teach here.” Then with a puzzled look on his face, he said, “We don't have nuns here!” My reply: “Now you do!” That same September, one of the freshmen football players in my science class raised his hand to inform me that every nun he ever had either died or left the convent! I informed him that my intention was to do neither anytime soon. His class of many varied characters has remained among my all time favorites!
a long-awaited day
Sister Karen Buco: “As long as I can remember, I couldn’t wait for the day when it was my turn to finally go to school. All of my cousins and most of my friends had already been going to school. I would now be able to join them in the walk from Seventh Avenue up the hill to Ninth Avenue to St. Clement Parochial School (as it was known then) in West Tarentum, Pa. It was one of my happiest memories because I could now be with friends who I missed so much.”