Six Sisters from the Adorers of the Blood of Christ order visited St. James Catholic School tin Auguta on Wednesday.
They were teachers at the former school site which was in the 700 block of Cliff Drive.
The visitors were Sister Verna Gunzelman, Sister Clarissa Tenbrink, Sister Thomasine Stoecklein, Sister Madeline Kisner, Sister Cecilla Leiker, and Sister Marie Rupp.
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In August of 1923, the Sisters of St. Joseph started the first school at St. James - Augusta.
Father James Hayes was the priest. The Sisters of St. Joseph ran the school for three years until May of 1926, when the school closed.
In July of 1924, the parish complex was almost completely destroyed by a tornado that ravaged Augusta. Only the school building survived the storm and it was used for Holy Mass and school until a new church could be built.
In August 1937, the school re-opened with the Adorers of the Most Precious Blood Sisters (Ad.P.P.S.) staffing the school for the next 35 years until it closed in May of 1972. During the 1968-69 school year, the sisters changed their name to Adorers of the Blood of Christ (A.S.C.). For the next twelve years St. James School was closed.
In August of 1984, St. James School re-opened for the third time in its history and has been going strong continually for the last twenty-four years, from that time until the present lay principals have served the school.
In 1997, a 19.6 acre tract of land was purchased for a new parish complex. In May 2003, the new school was finished and the children started classes in the new complex.
The parish school set an all time enrollment record during the 2004-2005 school year with an attendance of 141 students in preschool through fifth grades. St. James currently has 127 students starting the 2007-2008 school year.
As of January 2008, Sister Modesta Torline is the oldest living sister that taught at St. James Catholic School. She taught at St. James for one year during the 1935-1936 school year. She is currently 97 years old.
Sister Macrina Seidl is the second oldest living sister that taught at St. James Catholic School. She taught at St. James during the last three months of the 1942-1943 school year and all of the 1943-1944 school year. She will be 90 years old on January 30th, 2008. She was born in 1918.
There are 17 sisters that are still living, who were teachers and principals at St. James, twelve of whom reside at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ Convent near Newman University. Several of these will participate in our reception recognizing the A.S.C. Order.
Sister Thomasine Stoecklein taught and served as principal at St. James during the 1951-1956 school years. She is still very active and can relate many stories of her experiences at St. James. She still talks to this day of how she loved serving St. James School. She stated that St. James and the public school system had an excellent relationship with each other. She spoke highly of MR. Robinson, who was Augusta’s Superintendent of Schools. She was present in the fall of 1951 when the former church was dedicated. At that time the old frame church was remodeled for the school and the small frame school house on Cliff Drive was used for parish activities. Some important and instrumental families and individuals that she remembered were Owen and Ruth Redington, Mr. and Mrs. Lister, Mr. and Mrs. Bardot, Mr. and Mrs. Ron Evans, and Mr. and Mrs. Ray Baker.
Richard Guy, current Principal, and Father Michael Schemm, current Pastor, presented the Sisters of the Blood of Christ with a plaque and the St. James Home and School Organization had a reception with school staff, students, parents, and guests recognizing the Order for their 35 years of service to St. James Catholic School by providing Catholic education to the youth in and around Augusta. The reception was held on Wednesday, January 23, 2008.