Monday, December 31, 2007

IHM's School of the Month - July 2006


Featuring Epiphany School Class of 1966

Epiphany opened in Detroit in 1926, an IHM mission school with 225 students in grades one through eight. Names and faces changed through the 48 years it remained open, but the ministry of providing quality education never wavered.

Epiphany was a microcosm of its times. When an outbreak of "infantile paralysis" - polio - occurred in 1931, the school responded by opening several weeks late. When the Great Depression rocked the Motor City, Epiphany closed a month early. (The unnamed Epiphany Convent chronicler reported that, "By order of the Right Reverend Ordinary, following the action of the City School Board, we too, folded our tents."

Enrollment increased steadily, and by 1934, there were so many first graders, those students had half-day sessions. Although the school building was expanded, in 1948 both first and second graders had half-day sessions.

By 1957, enrollment stood at 818, and in 1966, our featured class year, 90 eighth grade students graduated.

The school year 1965-66 was a big one for Epiphany. The school's cheerleaders tied for first place in competition, and both the football and basketball teams were runners-up. TV outlets were installed in all classrooms, the "fruit of the candy-selling labors of the Mothers Guild." Not to be outdone, the Dad's Club presented the school with a stereo 3-D microscope "in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in the field of science."

Source: http://www.ihmsisters.org/www/Alumni_and_Reunions/previousschooljuly.asp

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