Sister Michael Marie in class with 7th-8th grade teacher Sharon Hernandez.
“Sister Michael Marie has been a wonderful role model and mentor.”
“The kids respect her leadership.”
“She always has us first.”
“She is definitely a leader.”
Fellow administrators, teachers, school secretaries and students have plenty to say when they are asked about their principal, Sister Michael Marie Friedman, who has guided the fortunes of the Elizabethtown, Kentucky, school for the last 14 years.
Sister Michael Marie in class with 7th-8th grade teacher Sharon Hernandez. |
“I like Catholic schools and I like working with youth, “ says Sister Marie Michael, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, “I think it is a challenge every day.”
The history of education in St. James parish in Elizabethtown dates all the way back to 1870, the year the Sisters of Loretto opened a school there called St. Mary’s Academy. In 1902 the name was changed to St. James School. A high school was added in 1922, but it closed 12 years later because of declining enrollment.
The high school reopened in 1942, was officially recognized under the new title of Elizabethtown Catholic High School in 1951, and then moved into a new building in 1955. A new grade school followed in 1964.
Financial difficulties forced the high school to close in June 1969. Two years later the grade school moved into the high school building.
Today, St. James is an accredited school with kindergarten through eighth grade, a preschool for three- and four-year-olds and after-school care, serving everyone in Hardin County and the surrounding counties of Nelson, Meade and LaRue.
Since Sister Michael Marie’s arrival at St. James in 1991, she has seen the school grow steadily. “We started adding a classroom every year,” she points out, “until we had two rooms for every class, K through eight. Last year we had to do some special adjusting to accommodate new students from St. Bridget (Vine Grove).”
With assistant principal Ellen Hamilton. |
With middle school secretary Carolyn Peak. |
St. Bridget closed its school last year. Two years ago, St. Christopher in Radcliff closed its school. Earlier a number of parishes in nearby Nelson and LaRue counties had closed their schools, many of their youths enrolling at St. James. “With the 30 or 40 students we’ve picked up from Vine Grove and Radcliff, we have truly become a regional school this year,” says Sister Michael Marie.
The youngest of four children born and raised on a farm near Glennonville, Missouri, Sister Michael Marie was taught by Maple Mount Ursulines first through eighth grades. Her Ursuline education continued the next four years at the Mount Saint Joseph Academy. She entered the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph in 1964 and continued her education at Brescia College.
Sister Michael Marie pulls lunch duty three times a week. "It's a great opportunity to be with the kids one-on-one," she says. |
Following her graduation from Brescia, Sister Michael Marie began her teaching career at Mary Carrico School in Knottsville in 1969. She spent two years as principal and teacher at St. Paul in Princeton, two more at St. Alphonsus, and then six years at St. Romuald High School in Hardinsburg.
She left administration and spent four years as a teacher at St. Mary High School in Paducah before serving four years as principal at St. Mary Elementary and one year as principal at Owensboro Catholic Middle School. She came to St. James as principal 14 years ago.
“I get satisfaction working with youth,” says Sister Michael Marie. “This is a long range goal – 10 or 15 years from now I want them to say that she taught me how to live my faith. I don’t expect them to like me now, but 10 or 15 years from now they may say she made a difference in my life.” Sister Michael Marie is already making a difference. Members of the St. James eighth-grade class were asked what they felt about their principal. Their answers:
Running a school of 443 students is no easy task, especially when the school is “gymless.” There are long-range plans for a gymnasium/multi-purpose facility, but right now the St. James Knights and Lady Knights athletic teams practice on the second floor of Batcheldor Hall, the basketball and volleyball teams play their home games and matches in the National Guard Armory. Batcheldor Hall, owned by the school and located on school property, has meeting rooms and after-school care downstairs and a small, multipurpose physical education gym and reception area upstairs.
Sister Michael Marie stops to talk with primary building secretary Gail Ashlock. |
The school’s track, cross country, tennis and golf teams use city facilities. “Saint James enjoys a reputation of being a really good school,” Sister Michael Marie proudly points out, “and as a result, the community is willing to share its resources with us. The city of Elizabethtown is just small enough to not be lost in numbers.”
Elizabethtown has a population of 24,000. St. James Parish, the only Catholic parish in Hardin County, has 1,400 families. St. James School has a faculty of 50.
Ellen Hamilton was a member of that faculty until last year, when she was named assistant principal. She says, “Sister Michael Marie has been a wonderful role model and mentor and helped guide me in my new position.” Ellen continues, “The students overall seem to respect her. When they are asked why they are doing something, they often say they are doing it for Sister Marie Michael or because of Sister Marie Michael. If she asks them to do something, they get it done.”
Sister Michael Marie conducting a monthly faculty meeting at St. James. |
Gail Ashlock, a longtime teacher at St. James, is now the primary school secretary. She is also one of Sister Michael Marie’s biggest admirers. “She definitely is a leader,” says Gail, “and she has supported me both in the workplace and personally.” She continued, “I’ve been here longer. I’ve seen the school grow by leaps and bounds since she’s been here. Her leadership, her discipline, her religious knowledge and example are felt by everyone she comes in touch with, both students and adults.”
Middle School secretary Carolyn Peak also has words of praise for the St. James principal. Says Carolyn, “Personally, Sister Michael Marie has been very supportive of me. I lost both my parents this past year. She has been very helpful.” She continued, “Professionally, she is very fair. She always keeps the good of the school foremost in her decision making. And the kids respect her leadership. We see many of them come back years later to thank her for supporting them during their years at St. James.”
Sister Michael Marie is the undisputed number one St. James fan. As Marc Oropilla pointed out, she’s a big supporter of the basketball teams, but she’s just as big a supporter of the cross country team, the Book Bee, Whiz Kids, and Governor’s Cup. If it’s a St. James student competing, she is there leading the cheers.
The Governor’s Cup competition began in late January and the St. James youths dominated the district, much to Sister Michael Marie’s delight. “We finished first in Quick Recall and second in Future Problem Solving,” she reported with pride in her voice, “and 12 of our students placed in various written assessment areas. All will move on to regional competition at Radcliff.”
Sister Michael Marie is thrilled with the success of the St. James academic teams and equally thrilled with that of the athletic teams. She’ll gladly accept the trophies and place them in the school trophy case. But she doesn’t hesitate to say, “As a regional school, the main purpose for our existence is spreading the Catholic faith with our students and their families. If we don’t have that, no matter how excellent we are in our secular subjects, we haven’t achieved our purpose.”
