Mount Marty High School ‘A Dream Come...
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PRESS & DAKOTAN n MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 HERITAGE 2014: PAGE 7D EDITOR’S NOTE: Author Linda Wuebben is a graduate of Mount Marty High School in Yankton. ——— BY LINDA WUEBBEN P&D Correspondent ducational opportunities in Yank- ton have always been strong, but over the years some of the early opportunities have slowly faded away. Still, they are missed like Mount Marty High School (MMHS), an all-girl high school on the campus of today’s vibrant Mount Marty College. In the late 1800s, five Sisters of the order of St. Benedict from the Maria-Rickenbach Monastery in Switzerland traveled to the lonely prairies be- yond the Mississippi where the buffalo still roamed. They carved a home for the Sacred Heart Monastery on the bluffs of the Missouri River where the order remains today. The early nuns assisted Bishop Martin Marty whose mission was to work with the Native Amer- icans living in the area. In essence, they were teachers and the natural progression followed in 1922 when the Benedictine Sisters of the Sacred Heart Monastery opened Mount Marty Academy. The first year it offered classes to 36 girls and five boys but it was the only year the boys would at- tend the academy. The five Sisters who formed the first teaching staff along with one lay woman, whose names may still be recognized like Jerome, Thomasine and Stanislaus, had only graduated from college themselves. To their credit, the excellence of the new school was immediately recognized and ac- credited by the State just two months after it opened its doors. The philosophy of the all-girl teaching institu- tion was simple: the Sisters recognized the need and opportunity to serve young women and their growing desire to pursue higher education. By 1926, eight young women had entered Sacred Heart Monastery after graduating from Mount Marty Academy and that influx of young women pursuing religious life continued through the 1950s. The next step for continuing education was to provide still another level of higher learning to area women and the growing number of young sisters. Although the Sacred Heart School of Nursing had also been open since 1905 in cooper- ation with Sacred Heart Hospital, the Sisters es- tablished a junior college and the Bede building was built in 1936. The first class taught was physics. By then the Academy had outgrown the con- vent and it joined the junior college in Bede where it located to the third floor. It became known as Mount Marty High School (MMHS) when its name was officially changed in 1945. The third and fourth years for the college were also added during the time up to 1950 and in 1951, the first baccalaureate degrees in arts and sciences were granted. In 1964, the nursing school was closed and young women enrolled in the four- year baccalaureate nursing program at Mount Marty College. For the families of the 1,192 young women who graduated from Mount Marty High School during the 47 years it was open, it was affection- ately called “The Mount.” By 1963, there were 213 girls enrolled at MMHS including students from South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Mon- tana and Kansas as well as Kenya, Mexico and South America. By this time the Sisters could no longer ignore the growing pains of their educational institution and hired a consultant to consider potential growth and options for satisfying the expanding enrollment at both the high school and college. A five-year plan would designate a new college resi- dence hall be built along with a separate building for MMHS. With much support from the Yankton community, a campaign for capital funds was suc- cessful. It was the first time in its history, Sacred Heart Convent had asked for support outside of its small community of sisters. In the fall of 1966, the doors of MMHS were opened and for the students, it was like Camelot. New lockers, new classrooms, a sweet little gym, new locker rooms and showers — it was a dream come true. The students thrived enjoying govern- ment days, science experiments in the new lab, retreats and eventually a new computer-gener- ated class schedule for a new teaching tradition. It was another first for MMHS — using computers to plan student class schedules. Modular scheduling was introduced to the students with 25-minute classes, longer lab peri- ods, group collaborations and much independent study. The students were being groomed to be self-starters, curious learners and encouraged to explore all levels of learning. Gone were hour-lec- tures and boring study halls. It truly did seem like Camelot — a dream come true. But during the long, blizzardy winter of 1968- 1969, the Benedictine Sisters struggled with bal- ancing the funding for both the high school and college institutions. When the MMHS students re- turned to classes in January 1969, they were gath- ered in the new gym, which still was shiny new, and listened to the grim announcement. MMHS would close at the end of the current term in May. A flood of tears, questions, demands and even let- ters from the community and outlying areas could do nothing to sway the Sisters. In a newspaper clipping from the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, an official explanation from Mother Julia Hunhoff, prioress of the Con- vent, stated: “The high school has been one of our most cherished educational commitments since its opening in 1922 and its program is out- standing. However, in the face of the decreasing enrollments and the rapid rise in operating costs which Mount Marty High School has found in- creasingly difficult to meet, the decision to close represents a reasoned and realistic consideration of what we can and cannot do in providing educa- tion opportunities.” The emphasis would be on education at a col- lege level and not a private high school for girls. In the fall of 1969, Mount Marty College would be a co-educational institution occupying all the campus buildings including the new high school building. When it closed, there were 158 students in- cluding 39 students who resided on campus. They were taught by a faculty of 16 Sisters and lay people and it was a quality experience for all who attended. The spirit and compassion which was fostered and taught by the Sisters left a mark on every young girl who studied there. When they returned to their families and communities, they never forgot the many different ways they were touched by the Benedictine Sisters who carved their existence on a bluff overlooking the Mighty Mo. When MMHS closed it, was at a height of edu- cational expertise. The school was the first in South Dakota to win an all-expense paid trip to Valley Forge; the first to use computers for sched- uling The staff created community leaders, women who attained professional success and most of all, mothers who nurtured loving families and relationships like the Sisters did for them. Many women still remember fondly with great pride their high school years at ‘the Mount’ and the lessons learned there. The last few months were busy as the stu- dents vowed to make lasting memories while learning reading, writing and arithmetic. The all- school play was “The Wizard of Oz” and the stu- dents dreamed of a reprieve, somewhere over the rainbow, til the better end. Just like the big screen hit at the time, the movie “Camelot,” MMHS students used the theme for Senior Prom and sang the songs in the halls of Mount Marty. For one brief shining moment, there was place called Mount Marty High School — Camelot in all the students’ hearts. So for all the MMHS alumni out there, “Unfailing loyalty we pledge anew, to thee, O Loving Alma Mater.” Mount Marty High School ‘A Dream Come True’ We are located at 1804 Broadway Ave., in Stewart Elementary and St. Ben’s School and are open on no school days! We are growing! Contact us for information about joining our team! Contact Kelsie Thoreson for more information. kelsiethoreson@ greatfuturessd.org 605.668.9710 The All-Girl Mount Marty High School Provided Educational Opportunities COURTESY PHOTO An archive photo of Mount Marty Academy, which opened in 1922 in Yankton. In its first year of operation, the school educated 36 girls and five boys — the only year that boys were ever educated at the school. E the museum included pic- tures of graduating classes and school activities; a floor plan of the school; sports tro- phies and individual sports awards; letter jackets; and a series of wall panels listing every known Pickstown teacher and student. “There are also many unique small items in display cases, such as eighth grade diplomas from the initial James Avenue school signed by General Pick (the town’s namesake),” Rhoades said. FOND MEMORIES Trautman and Rhoades spearheaded a three-year ef- fort that led to this sum- mer’s dedication of the Pickstown and Fort Randall Dam Museum. The experi- ence intensified their love for their boyhood home- town. Pickstown welcomed the continual influx of newcom- ers, Trautman said. “Living in Pickstown and attending school there were some of the best years of my life,” he said. “Pickstown was a unique place to live. The residents were mostly travel- ing construction workers with some local area fami- lies. We became one big fam- ily of people that were so happy to live in a place where they were welcome.” The construction workers and their families were seen as newfound friends rather than outsiders, Trautman said. “It is my opinion that is what made Pickstown such a great place to live and go to school. With the constantly changing population and stu- dent body, we were always meeting new and interesting people,” he said. “However, we often said goodbye to some very good friends and have not seen some of them since. I never miss an opportunity to visit Pickstown, even if there is no one there that I know. “While we had many stu- dents that attended that did not graduate from Pick- stown, we can boast of many that were very successful in the lives.” Rhoades also holds fond memories of growing up in Pickstown from summer 1952 until graduating in 1955. “Pickstown was a great place to live in those early days. There were no slums, no ugly spots, not a single tumble-down shack, no traf- fic problems, no conges- tion,” he said. “The streets in the care- fully planned community were all hard-surfaced and clean. Private lawns and pub- lic grounds were nearly trimmed. Business conces- sions, theater, hospital, inter- denominational church, hotel, school, shopping cen- ter and other structures were in sites calculated to best serve the residents and en- hance the community aes- thetically.” Pickstown drew wide- spread interest, Rhoades said. “There was a freshness to Pickstown. The mood was quiet, business-like, homey and sedate,” he said. “Trans- portation around the town was no issue as you could walk anywhere to get most of what was needed. If you didn’t have a car and wanted to go to Lake Andes, there was a private taxi service costing $1.50.” Rhoades enjoyed the con- stant influx of new and usu- ally high-achieving students. “The school had every- thing a student could want with small classes that pro- vided a lot of individual at- tention if wanted,” he said. “My classmates were mostly all above-average stu- dents, with the testament being the high number that went on to very successful careers. High school stu- dents were able to get good- paying summer construction jobs with long hours at the dam which provided an above-average amount of money for the school year.” A number of the newly-ar- riving families included newly-discharged World War II veterans seeking opportu- nity, Rhoades said. “They were glad to have a place to call home, have a good paying jobs and had a work ethic and great can-do attitude — the essence of what Tom Brokaw writes about in the ‘Greatest Genera- tion,’” he said. “And the town had a very high number of highly techni- cal trained people and engi- neers who came with Corps of Engineers and construc- tion companies. This was a strong influence on me to pursue an engineering de- gree.” Rhoades counts his friend- ship with Brokaw as a special part of the Pickstown experi- ence. “Tom Brokaw was a fresh- man when I was a senior. Looking back to that time, it is now obvious that he dis- played inherent talents that served him well in his out- standing career,” Rhoades said. Brokaw returned to Pick- stown this summer for a town reunion and the dedication program for the Pickstown and Fort Randall Dam Mu- seum. The dam construction came on the heels of World War II, and the returning vet- erans known as the “Greatest Generation” completed the dam in just 10 years. At this summer’s reunion and ceremony, Brokaw likened his boyhood to a “Tom Sawyer” experience. However, he also realized he was living in a very special time and place. Brokaw said a part of him will always remain with his Pickstown home. He remains grateful for the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation of World War II that made his life possible. He credited those veterans with exempli- fying the “big ideas” that have made the United States a great nation. “(Pickstown) was a thrilling place to grow and see beyond the borders of South Dakota,” he said. “I was one of the luckiest members of the Lucky Generation.” You can follow Randy Dockendorf on Twitter at twitter.com/RDockendorf. Discuss this story at www.yankton.net. Pickstown From Page 3D
Transcript of Mount Marty High School ‘A Dream Come...
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PRESS & DAKOTAN n MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 HERITAGE 2014: PAGE 7D
EDITOR’S NOTE: Author Linda Wuebbenis a graduate of Mount Marty High School inYankton.
———BY LINDA WUEBBENP&D Correspondent
ducational opportunities in Yank-ton have always been strong, butover the years some of the earlyopportunities have slowly fadedaway. Still, they are missed likeMount Marty High School(MMHS), an all-girl high school
on the campus of today’s vibrant Mount MartyCollege.
In the late 1800s, five Sisters of the order of St.Benedict from the Maria-Rickenbach Monasteryin Switzerland traveled to the lonely prairies be-yond the Mississippi where the buffalo stillroamed. They carved a home for the SacredHeart Monastery on the bluffs of the MissouriRiver where the order remains today.
The early nuns assisted Bishop Martin Martywhose mission was to work with the Native Amer-icans living in the area. In essence, they wereteachers and the natural progression followed in1922 when the Benedictine Sisters of the SacredHeart Monastery opened Mount Marty Academy.The first year it offered classes to 36 girls and fiveboys but it was the only year the boys would at-tend the academy.
The five Sisters who formed the first teachingstaff along with one lay woman, whose namesmay still be recognized like Jerome, Thomasineand Stanislaus, had only graduated from collegethemselves. To their credit, the excellence of thenew school was immediately recognized and ac-credited by the State just two months after itopened its doors.
The philosophy of the all-girl teaching institu-tion was simple: the Sisters recognized the needand opportunity to serve young women and theirgrowing desire to pursue higher education. By1926, eight young women had entered SacredHeart Monastery after graduating from MountMarty Academy and that influx of young womenpursuing religious life continued through the1950s.
The next step for continuing education was toprovide still another level of higher learning toarea women and the growing number of youngsisters. Although the Sacred Heart School ofNursing had also been open since 1905 in cooper-ation with Sacred Heart Hospital, the Sisters es-tablished a junior college and the Bede buildingwas built in 1936. The first class taught wasphysics.
By then the Academy had outgrown the con-vent and it joined the junior college in Bedewhere it located to the third floor. It becameknown as Mount Marty High School (MMHS)when its name was officially changed in 1945. Thethird and fourth years for the college were alsoadded during the time up to 1950 and in 1951, thefirst baccalaureate degrees in arts and scienceswere granted. In 1964, the nursing school wasclosed and young women enrolled in the four-year baccalaureate nursing program at MountMarty College.
For the families of the 1,192 young womenwho graduated from Mount Marty High School
during the 47 years it was open, it was affection-ately called “The Mount.” By 1963, there were 213girls enrolled at MMHS including students fromSouth Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Mon-tana and Kansas as well as Kenya, Mexico andSouth America.
By this time the Sisters could no longer ignorethe growing pains of their educational institutionand hired a consultant to consider potentialgrowth and options for satisfying the expandingenrollment at both the high school and college. Afive-year plan would designate a new college resi-dence hall be built along with a separate buildingfor MMHS. With much support from the Yanktoncommunity, a campaign for capital funds was suc-cessful. It was the first time in its history, SacredHeart Convent had asked for support outside ofits small community of sisters.
In the fall of 1966, the doors of MMHS wereopened and for the students, it was like Camelot.New lockers, new classrooms, a sweet little gym,new locker rooms and showers — it was a dreamcome true. The students thrived enjoying govern-ment days, science experiments in the new lab,retreats and eventually a new computer-gener-ated class schedule for a new teaching tradition.It was another first for MMHS — using computersto plan student class schedules.
Modular scheduling was introduced to thestudents with 25-minute classes, longer lab peri-ods, group collaborations and much independentstudy. The students were being groomed to beself-starters, curious learners and encouraged toexplore all levels of learning. Gone were hour-lec-tures and boring study halls.
It truly did seem like Camelot — a dreamcome true.
But during the long, blizzardy winter of 1968-1969, the Benedictine Sisters struggled with bal-
ancing the funding for both the high school andcollege institutions. When the MMHS students re-turned to classes in January 1969, they were gath-ered in the new gym, which still was shiny new,and listened to the grim announcement. MMHSwould close at the end of the current term in May.A flood of tears, questions, demands and even let-ters from the community and outlying areascould do nothing to sway the Sisters.
In a newspaper clipping from the YanktonDaily Press & Dakotan, an official explanationfrom Mother Julia Hunhoff, prioress of the Con-vent, stated: “The high school has been one ofour most cherished educational commitmentssince its opening in 1922 and its program is out-standing. However, in the face of the decreasingenrollments and the rapid rise in operating costswhich Mount Marty High School has found in-creasingly difficult to meet, the decision to closerepresents a reasoned and realistic considerationof what we can and cannot do in providing educa-tion opportunities.”
The emphasis would be on education at a col-lege level and not a private high school for girls.In the fall of 1969, Mount Marty College would bea co-educational institution occupying all thecampus buildings including the new high schoolbuilding.
When it closed, there were 158 students in-cluding 39 students who resided on campus.They were taught by a faculty of 16 Sisters andlay people and it was a quality experience for allwho attended. The spirit and compassion which
was fostered and taught by the Sisters left a markon every young girl who studied there. Whenthey returned to their families and communities,they never forgot the many different ways theywere touched by the Benedictine Sisters whocarved their existence on a bluff overlooking theMighty Mo.
When MMHS closed it, was at a height of edu-cational expertise. The school was the first inSouth Dakota to win an all-expense paid trip toValley Forge; the first to use computers for sched-uling The staff created community leaders,women who attained professional success andmost of all, mothers who nurtured loving familiesand relationships like the Sisters did for them.Many women still remember fondly with greatpride their high school years at ‘the Mount’ andthe lessons learned there.
The last few months were busy as the stu-dents vowed to make lasting memories whilelearning reading, writing and arithmetic. The all-school play was “The Wizard of Oz” and the stu-dents dreamed of a reprieve, somewhere over therainbow, til the better end.
Just like the big screen hit at the time, themovie “Camelot,” MMHS students used the themefor Senior Prom and sang the songs in the halls ofMount Marty. For one brief shining moment,there was place called Mount Marty High School— Camelot in all the students’ hearts. So for allthe MMHS alumni out there, “Unfailing loyalty wepledge anew, to thee, O Loving Alma Mater.”
Mount Marty High School
‘A Dream Come True’
We are located at 1804 Broadway Ave., in Stewart Elementary and St. Ben’s School and are open on no school days!
We are growing! Contact us for information about joining our team!
Contact Kelsie Thoreson for more [email protected]
The All-Girl Mount Marty High School Provided Educational Opportunities
COURTESY PHOTOAn archive photo of Mount Marty Academy, which opened in 1922 in Yankton. In its first year of operation, the school educated 36 girls and five boys —the only year that boys were ever educated at the school.
E
the museum included pic-tures of graduating classesand school activities; a floorplan of the school; sports tro-phies and individual sportsawards; letter jackets; and aseries of wall panels listingevery known Pickstownteacher and student.
“There are also manyunique small items in displaycases, such as eighth gradediplomas from the initialJames Avenue school signedby General Pick (the town’snamesake),” Rhoades said.
FOND MEMORIESTrautman and Rhoades
spearheaded a three-year ef-fort that led to this sum-mer’s dedication of thePickstown and Fort RandallDam Museum. The experi-ence intensified their lovefor their boyhood home-town.
Pickstown welcomed thecontinual influx of newcom-ers, Trautman said.
“Living in Pickstown andattending school there weresome of the best years of mylife,” he said. “Pickstown wasa unique place to live. Theresidents were mostly travel-ing construction workerswith some local area fami-lies. We became one big fam-ily of people that were sohappy to live in a placewhere they were welcome.”
The construction workersand their families were seenas newfound friends ratherthan outsiders, Trautmansaid.
“It is my opinion that iswhat made Pickstown such agreat place to live and go toschool. With the constantlychanging population and stu-dent body, we were alwaysmeeting new and interestingpeople,” he said.
“However, we often saidgoodbye to some very goodfriends and have not seensome of them since. I nevermiss an opportunity to visitPickstown, even if there isno one there that I know.
“While we had many stu-
dents that attended that didnot graduate from Pick-stown, we can boast of manythat were very successful inthe lives.”
Rhoades also holds fondmemories of growing up inPickstown from summer1952 until graduating in1955.
“Pickstown was a greatplace to live in those earlydays. There were no slums,no ugly spots, not a singletumble-down shack, no traf-fic problems, no conges-tion,” he said.
“The streets in the care-fully planned communitywere all hard-surfaced andclean. Private lawns and pub-lic grounds were nearlytrimmed. Business conces-sions, theater, hospital, inter-denominational church,hotel, school, shopping cen-ter and other structures werein sites calculated to bestserve the residents and en-hance the community aes-thetically.”
Pickstown drew wide-spread interest, Rhoadessaid.
“There was a freshness toPickstown. The mood wasquiet, business-like, homeyand sedate,” he said. “Trans-portation around the townwas no issue as you couldwalk anywhere to get most ofwhat was needed. If youdidn’t have a car and wantedto go to Lake Andes, therewas a private taxi servicecosting $1.50.”
Rhoades enjoyed the con-stant influx of new and usu-ally high-achieving students.
“The school had every-thing a student could wantwith small classes that pro-vided a lot of individual at-tention if wanted,” he said.
“My classmates weremostly all above-average stu-dents, with the testamentbeing the high number thatwent on to very successfulcareers. High school stu-dents were able to get good-paying summer constructionjobs with long hours at thedam which provided anabove-average amount ofmoney for the school year.”
A number of the newly-ar-riving families includednewly-discharged World WarII veterans seeking opportu-
nity, Rhoades said.“They were glad to have a
place to call home, have agood paying jobs and had awork ethic and great can-doattitude — the essence ofwhat Tom Brokaw writesabout in the ‘Greatest Genera-tion,’” he said.
“And the town had a veryhigh number of highly techni-cal trained people and engi-neers who came with Corpsof Engineers and construc-tion companies. This was astrong influence on me topursue an engineering de-gree.”
Rhoades counts his friend-ship with Brokaw as a specialpart of the Pickstown experi-ence.
“Tom Brokaw was a fresh-man when I was a senior.Looking back to that time, itis now obvious that he dis-played inherent talents thatserved him well in his out-standing career,” Rhoadessaid.
Brokaw returned to Pick-stown this summer for a townreunion and the dedicationprogram for the Pickstownand Fort Randall Dam Mu-seum. The dam constructioncame on the heels of WorldWar II, and the returning vet-erans known as the “GreatestGeneration” completed thedam in just 10 years.
At this summer’s reunionand ceremony, Brokawlikened his boyhood to a“Tom Sawyer” experience.However, he also realized hewas living in a very specialtime and place.
Brokaw said a part of himwill always remain with hisPickstown home. He remainsgrateful for the sacrifices ofthe Greatest Generation ofWorld War II that made hislife possible. He creditedthose veterans with exempli-fying the “big ideas” thathave made the United Statesa great nation.
“(Pickstown) was athrilling place to grow andsee beyond the borders ofSouth Dakota,” he said. “I wasone of the luckiest membersof the Lucky Generation.”
You can follow RandyDockendorf on Twitter attwitter.com/RDockendorf.Discuss this story atwww.yankton.net.
PickstownFrom Page 3D
