Sister Anne Michelle Mudd, OSU: "...Sister is the backbone of Saint Paul School." 

     Six years ago, Sister Anne Michelle Mudd, principal and head teacher at Saint Paul’s Grade School in Saint Paul in rural Grayson County, Ky., got her first driver’s license at age 60.
     Why did she wait so long? “I never had a desire to drive,” she explains. “But two of my brothers – John and Leo – talked me into it. They said, ‘Sis, you need to learn how to drive. Mom lives only 13 miles from you, and if you learned to drive, you could visit her often.’ So I did.”

     It proved to be another example of how Sister Anne Michelle always accomplishes something once she sets out to do it.
      When she received her first calling to religious life while still in grade school, many were skeptical. She proved them wrong.
      “When I set out to do something, I do it,” she says with pride.
       When she took on the challenge of giving a talk on vocation life one vocation Sunday – something she had never done – she was given a standing ovation. “Again, when you tell me I can’t do something, you’re barking up the wrong tree!” She proclaimed.
      Sister Anne Michelle’s life has been filled with challenges – challenges she has always accepted and then accomplished in her own unique style.
       A native of rural Grayson County, Sister Anne Michelle was born near Peonia, the fourth oldest of 10 children of Dent and Evelyn Stith Mudd. Three brothers and two sisters are still living today along with her 87-year-old mother,  whom she now visits regularly thanks to her ability to drive.   

       She attended Peonia public grade schools for eight years where the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph taught all of the classes.
        Sister Anne Michelle received her calling to religious life early. “Sister Consolata Stallings was my third-grade teacher, and she would always talk to me about being a sister,” she recalls. “She was my teacher for the third, fourth, fifth and part of the sixth grade and she taught me music from the third to eighth grade.”
       She wasn’t the only influence.
        “Father James Wathen became our assistant and taught us religion our junior and senior years in high school,” says Sister Anne Michelle. “He was always on my coattails about going to the convent.”

       Sister Anne Michelle attended Saint Paul High School, also in Grayson County. Following graduation she accomplished the dream she had carried with her since third grade – she came to Mount Saint Joseph and began her novitiate, perhaps to the surprise of some skeptics.
        “I was told by every sister who ever taught me how dumb I was,” says Sister Anne Michelle. “I was told that I wouldn’t get an eighth-grade diploma, that I would walk up the aisle with a fake one.

        “When I was in high school, I was told you probably won’t pass, but you can walk up the aisle with a fake diploma.
        “And at Brescia College it was the same way. But I made the grade every time. And I love to tell it now. I fooled them all. Because when I set out to do something, I do it!”
         Sister Anne Michelle says, “When I came here (Saint Paul’s) 10 years ago, Father Charles Fisher told me he wanted me to give the vocation talk on vocation Sunday. I told him I couldn’t do those things because I didn’t like to. I could talk all day long in my classroom, but not to an adult in a group. But he said I still had to do it.”
         She went to St. Elizabeth’s, gave the talk, and got a standing ovation.
         There were 15 young girls in Sister Anne Michelle’s class at Mount Saint Joseph. Eventually five took their final vows. For one year Sister Cordelia Spalding was the class novice mistress. Sister Cordelia, now 88 and a resident of Saint Joseph Villa at the Mount, remembers the young novice from Saint Paul quite well. “I remember she was able to take directions,” she says. “And she got along quite well with her classmates.”
         Sister Anne Michelle says her class was the first class to go through the juniorate program at the Mount. For one year Mother Superior Mary Wilfred Hayden was juniorate mistress for the class.

         Today, Sister Anne Michelle is the only class member still a member of the community.
         After earning her degree at Brescia, Sister Anne Michelle began her teaching career in 1964 at Saint Joseph Grade School in Central City, teaching first and second graders for three years.
          It was on to Flaherty Public Schools in Meade County for three years, teaching second and third graders and then to Saint Peter’s in Union County for three years, teaching first and second graders.
         Sister Anne Michelle returned home to Daviess County for two years to teach second graders at Immaculate Grade School before journeying to Nebraska  City, Neb., where she taught third graders for two years.
         Her first tenure at Saint Paul’s in Grayson County came next, teaching first and second grades for eight years.
         After a 12-year stay teaching first graders at Mary Carrico in Daviess County, Sister Anne Michelle returned to Saint Paul’s 10 years ago and has been teaching grades kindergarten through second ever since, also serving as head teacher (principal) and chief fundraiser for the school.

     Saint Paul’s Grade School is a phenomenon. With 28 students in grades kindergarten through eight, an average of 3.1 students per class, it is one of the smallest schools of its kind in the nation. The entire staff consists of Sister Anne Michelle; two other teachers, Michelle Robinson and Joan Butterworth; a teachers aide, Janice Darst; a secretary, Deanna Kipper; and a part-time, retired nurse, Barbara Tilford, who also teaches third and fourth grade religion and serves as the school librarian.
         Those who work for Sister Anne Michelle make up a small admiration society. “Sister is special to the school,” says teacher Michelle Robinson. “She has more jobs than three people put together. Not only is she my boss as principal, but she is also a mentor whom I can ask teaching questions and how to handle classroom situations.” 
          Sister Anne Michelle has also been a major influence in Michelle’s personal life. She says, “Sister's biggest influence in my life has been with my Catholic faith. I began teaching in August of 2000 as a Baptist. I was intrigued by the Catholic faith and would ask many questions. She would answer or find the books so that I could find the answers. In April 2007, I became a Catholic along with my children, Zackery and Jessica. Sister is now my son's religion teacher. Our faith and enthusiasm have grown, thanks to the support of Sister Anne Michelle, and my husband is now in RCIA class and will soon join Saint Paul Catholic Church.” 

        Teacher Joan Butterworth says, “To me, Sister is the backbone of St. Paul School. I feel that everyone looks up to her, respects her, and realizes that her faith is first in her life. She only wants what is best for every student and does what she can to help them succeed. She feels that the students’ religious studies are the most important because that is what will get them through every crisis in their lives. Reading, writing, and math are important, but she stresses how important it is to put God first.”
         Joan says Sister Anne Michelle is one of the best friends she has – a  friend who listens when she goes to her with her problems. She says, “I can share my happy times, family times, and wild or weird ideas and she will laugh with me. Her religious beliefs mean a lot to me. I find her strong, faithful, and very caring. Many feel that she is strict, but to me that is her strength in the Lord that follows through in everything she does. I am honored to be her friend and co-worker.”
         Longtime school secretary Deanna Kipper says, “Sister Anne Michelle and I went to school together. She is a lot of fun. And she has brought respect and fairness to St. Paul School.”
         Keeping the school open is a year-to-year challenge.
         The biggest challenge, obviously, is financial. Where does the money come from? “Saint Paul’s pays tuition for their children,” says Sister Anne Michelle, “and children from the other parishes, their parish will pay a certain amount of the tuition and the parents have to pay the rest. The non-Catholics have to pay full tuition.”
          The school takes care of all operational expenses for the school and the convent with numerous fundraisers and what Sister Anne Michelle calls some “generous donations,” including donations from her own family.

        When it comes to fundraisers, Sister Anne Michelle says it’s just not her leading the way. “Joan (Butterworth) takes on the responsibilities of putting on a lot of fundraisers,” she says. “The teachers jump in and help. We can have two or three fundraisers overlapping at the same time, a free breakfast once a month, a Little Debbie cookie sale. The cookie sale raises money for Christmas gifts for needy folks at Hardin Memorial Hospital.”
         Sister Anne Michelle does have her own special contributions – she has kissed a pig and has had meringue pies thrown at her just to raise money for the school during the Spring Fling fundraiser.  
         How important is it to keep providing a Catholic education to such a small group of children?
         “We’re the only Catholic school here,” Sister Anne Michelle quickly responds. “I think if you can get to a small group of children like we have here, give them a Catholic education, teach them right from wrong, they are able to attend Mass three days a week, God is bound to bless the school and keep it open. We just go year to year. In fact, I guess it’s really done on faith.”
         What about the future of Saint Paul’s?
         “I would say it’s going to close,” admits Sister Anne Michelle. “But only God knows when. We were told 10 years ago ‘it’s going to close next year!’ and the same thing the next year and most years after that. But nothing was said last year and we’re still here this year. It’s still a year-to-year project.”
         What about Sister Anne Michelle’s plans when the school does close?
         “When the school does close down, I don’t ever intend to go back into the classroom again,” she says. “I’ve been teaching since 1954. I wouldn’t mind doing some tutoring, visiting the sick, just being present to the people in the county.” She added that she’d also like to be involved in community projects such as quilting.
         She concludes, “My brother just renovated the convent, and I’d want to stay there and enjoy it some, but I’m sure that would be left up to the leadership team. I hope they would see it my way.”

“THE ELVIS CONNECTION”

        In years past, Sister Anne Michelle has been featured in numerous publications, including The Star, a national tabloid newspaper, telling of her collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia.
        During her teenage years at Saint Paul High School in the 1950s, she and millions of other teenagers “discovered” the young singer from Tupelo, Miss. She recalls, “I had been reading about Elvis in the newspapers, and then I saw him on the Ed Sullivan Show and I was hooked. And I’ve been a fan ever since. She started collecting Elvis memorabilia immediately and her collection – after going into hiatus for a few years – has grown steadily into one of huge proportions.

     “I had only one tube of lipstick in my life,” Sister Anne Michelle recalls, “and that was when I was a senior in high school, and it was called Love Me Tender Pink! That was left at home when I went to the convent. In fact, when I went to the convent, Elvis was left at home.”
          Elvis wasn’t part of Sister Anne Michelle’s life again until 22 years ago when she was given the green light to revive her collection of Elvis memorabilia. Her Love Me Tender lipstick couldn’t be found, but there were enough records, photos and the like to revive the collection. Since then, family members, friends, students, fellow teachers and sisters have given her everything from Elvis photos to Elvis charm bracelets, and her collection has grown into an Elvis museum in the Saint Paul Convent where she lives. With Christmas just around the corner, she is preparing to decorate two trees (one for the convent and one for her classroom) adorned by the more than 100 different Elvis Christmas ornaments in her collection.
          When the phone rings in the convent, the “Elvis phone” begins singing “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog!”  A number of photos, posters, throws, wine glasses, shot glasses, kitchen items, etc., cover almost every square inch of surface space in the convent. Her collection includes every record Elvis ever recorded, cassettes of many of the recordings (no DVDs, she’s not into computers or any of the other “new fangled” electronics). Most of the 33-1/3 recordings are still in their original packaging, unopened. She also has VHS copies of every movie Elvis every made. The rooms are filled with umbrellas, watches, clocks, books, just about everything ever made with Elvis’ image on it. When you reach to turn a light on or off in the convent or in her classroom, the switch plate is, of course, an Elvis decoration. 

     Her students (kindergarten through second grade) know all about “The King.” They see his photos in their classroom and they celebrate his birthday and his death each year. “And they have become Elvis fans,” says Sister Anne Michelle. “And their Christmas gifts will be Elvis Christmas gifts,” she adds with a smile, “and my birthday gifts too. I have received Elvis umbrellas, tote bags, sunglass holders, cell phone holders, clocks and books.”
         Getting a bit nostalgic, Sister Anne Michelle recalls, “My first term paper my senior year in high school was on Elvis. I got an A-plus on it, but it was the first one my sister had ever gotten on Elvis Presley, and I never got it back.”
          To many, Sister Anne Michelle, who still wears the Ursuline Sisters habit, comes across very subdued, very quiet. As a result, her “Elvis connection” surprises many. She admits, “It just blows the minds of some of our sisters. They just can’t believe that I’m an Elvis Presley fan.”
         From pursuing her childhood dream of being a sister, to becoming a loving and dedicated teacher, to her passionate drive to keep the doors of Saint Paul School open, Sister Anne Michelle Mudd has never backed away from the many challenges she’s faced along the way. And she’s still managed to keep alive a childhood admiration for that young singer from Tupelo.