New exhibit features nuns teaching in local schools

by Frank Lee

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For Mary Cheryl Opatz, taking a stroll through the new exhibit at the Haehn Museum at St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph was like taking a walk back in time.

A Legacy of Learning: Benedictine Sisters in Elementary Schools opened to the public on April 9 and highlights the nuns’ involvement in more than 100 elementary schools in the St. Cloud diocese with photos, artifacts and more from schools like St. Joseph Laboratory School.

“As a classroom teacher, I know that classroom management is not an easy thing,” said Opatz, a Catholic school teacher who grew up in St. Cloud and in Catholic schools.

Education was “a foundational ministry for the Sisters of St. Benedict’s Monastery,” according to promotional material for the exhibit, which included old school desks and vintage clothing.

“Much of this is reminiscent of my childhood,” Opatz said as she looked at old elementary school books on display along with first-hand accounts of those from that era.

According to the monastery, the period from 1955-1965 saw the peak of Catholic elementary education in terms of total nuns teaching and student enrollment.

“They were good teachers,” Opatz said. “They really provided a solid base in education and certainly faith.”

Sister Thomasette Scheeler, coordinator of monastic enterprises, helped install the exhibit’s displays, which also showcased St. Michael’s School in Buckman, St. Mary’s School in Melrose and St. Anne’s School in Minneapolis, besides St. Joseph Lab School.

“I think we planted a lot of seeds … a lot of basic values … especially Christian values, besides excellence in education,” said Sister Anita O’Keefe, who was on the exhibit committee and taught at St. Joseph Laboratory School for seven years.

Sister Julie Schleper, another exhibit committee member, also taught at St. Joseph Lab School.

“I specifically did research with the St. Joseph Lab School and how it moved from being a parish school to being a lab school for the college,” Schleper said.

St. Joseph Laboratory School received its name in 1970 “in recognition of its function as a laboratory school” for the St. Joseph-based College of St. Benedict’s education department.

“We were well received, well respected,” Schleper said of the nuns teaching in the schools. “There was a little resistance from a few pastors who felt that maybe we were too liberal.”

In 2012, the school became All Saints Academy, St. Joseph campus, in cooperation with parish schools in the St. Cloud area, according to information at the exhibit.

“We worked years doing research and probably only used half or a third of the research we did with the schools,” O’Keefe said.

The free exhibit is open to the public until Friday, Dec. 23. For more information about the new exhibit, call 320-363-7100 or visit St. Benedict’s Monastery at www.sbm.osb.org.