Prendie Girls

I watched the high school junior gulp back tears as she offered a heartfelt summary on the announcement that her suburban Philadelphia high school will be one of 49 elementary and high schools to close by June.  "My senior year was going to be everything! Now I won't be able to share it with my friends. This is unfair. It makes me so sad."

I ached for that young student from Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill.  She's a Prendie girl.  So am I.

Archbishop Prendergast High School

It has been many moons since I traveled under that distinctive description - Prendie Girl - but it is one that sticks.  Regardless of when I've answered the query as to where I attended high school, the inevitable reply from the questioner is, "So you're a Prendie girl."  

The all girls high school was first St. Vincent's Orphanage built in 1920. In 1953, the then vacated orphanage was converted into a school for boys (called Archbishop Prendergast) for a few years until a second school was built next door and named Monsignor Bonner. Prendie became the girls high school and Bonner was for boys. Both are set to close as of this writing. http://www.prendie.com/s/669/prendergast.aspx?sid=669&gid=1&pgid=880

Beyond the building's history, Prendie provided some sparkling memories along with a few trampled disappointments for me.   Prendie won the Girls' Catholic League Basketball Championship not once, but twice consecutively during my freshman and sophomore years! Witnessing those raucous games as an underclassman at the Palestra still makes my throat sore from the spirited cheering for those unforgettable teams! 

Prendie class ring

Five Prendie grads (Denise Conway, Marianne Crawford, Betty Ann Hoffman, Pat Opila, and Janet Ruch) went on to play for Immaculata College (now University) women's basketball team which captured three consecutive National Women's College Basketball Championships in 1972, 1973 and 1974.  They were immortalized in last fall's release of the movie, "The Mighty Macs," celebrating the little school that could.  

Today, I live nearby Immaculata University and have taken graduate classes there in the last few years.  The glow of the Mighty Macs which included those notorious Prendie grads shines brilliantly still.  The University magazine celebrates these women in their Spring 2011 edition. http://www.immaculata.edu/magazine/spring2011.php

Memories, however, are not the strongest foundation to hold up institutions.

The numbers don't lie. Some 565 seniors graduated with me in 1974.  Today that number is 40 more than the school's TOTAL enrollment of 525 students.  Overall enrollment in the diocesan schools has dropped to the same level it held 100 years ago. It is an uneasy full circle moment.

Research has shown that students who continue with Catholic education through high school and into college have become the parishioners who eventually send their children through the Catholic school system, theoretically providing a steady flow of enrollments.  This was certainly true when I was in the archdiocesan system.  I felt this powerful pull of history not long after I graduated from high school. 

As I nervously walked into my ten year high school reunion years ago, one of the first alums I greeted was a very close friend I met on my first day at Prendie. She pointed to a table and said "The St. Phil's girls are sitting over there." Despite no formal seating arrangements being made, it was as if by design, my fellow alums sat by parish at the event. Parish affiliation still ruled the day even though we were almost 30 years old! I was thunderstruck by the power of those grade school ties. 

Many Prendie friends who stayed in the area sent their children to the same high school. However, over time, the tether has been weakened by forces greater than any legacy can provide.   In spite of this Catholic continuum, decreased birth rates, increased tuition, and changes in population movement line the narrowing pathway to these school closings. Speculation includes payouts made by the diocese to victims of the sex abuse scandal as an additional factor affecting the diocesan coffers.

Coincidentally, my grade school, St. Philomena in Lansdowne, PA, shuttered its doors in June 2011 after 104 years of operation due to low enrollment.  I think I am having a little bit of a school identity crisis.

Prendie memorabilia:
Yearbook, uniform emblems,
ribbon, class ring, uniform belt
embroidered with my
graduation date.

I know the recent school closing news would have rocked my teenage world. Prendie spent so much time nurturing a communal sense of belonging and that suited me.  We were members of a powerful center of girl power.  It was an atmosphere that cultivated our spirits, but I also admit seeing some friends having their spirits crushed because they did not follow tight guidelines.  The individual was not always celebrated as heartily as the whole. 

I recall the tremendous excitement of reaching senior year because seniors were especially given numerous pivotal events to savor before they bid farewell -  Installation Day, Ring Day, the Dad/Daughter Dance, and prom to name a few.  Reaching senior year was like summiting a mountain - the view was breathtaking.

While Prendie and Bonner fervently campaign for financial support to keep the schools open and possibly merge them, an appeal is underway to meet the February 2 deadline.  There is a cautious hope.  

If the school does close, I wonder, will "Prendie Girl" be a lost descriptor?  Who are we when these tags are no longer viable?  It's a short trip to the philosophical baseline question - who am I?  A Psychology Today article suggests while steadfastly bracing ourselves for change may be a common knee jerk reaction to it, following a gentler, more bendable sensibility will serve us better in the long run. "The key is to engage your sense of self as malleable, more like a willow tree than a sturdy oak. The willow is flexible and survives the storm as it bends with the wind, whereas the more rigid oak is more likely to crack."  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shift-mind/201006/who-am-i

This may be a tall order for the youngsters and teenagers affected by the many school  closings.  Perhaps some of the schools can be saved.  The larger lesson looms and its powerful impact offers rich, albeit painful, learning for those affected students.  Who they are has less to do with their school and more to do with their sense of how they want to live. It is often a struggle to accept this life gift.  

I hope the adults in this equation passionately guide these students to understand they are valued, no matter where they attend school because their value starts within. This is especially poignant when change comes knocking so early in life.  Eckhart Tolle nails this in his book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose when he explains "Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.”  

He adds, "You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.” 

The following cheer was a mainstay during my high school years - I wonder if it continues to be used at Prendie. I can still hear my classmates give it their all. I hope it inspires -forever.

Girls of Prendergast High

Raise your banners high

Sing your spirit,

Ever cheer it

Show your do or die

Pledge your all to alma mater

Let your colors fly

Garnet and grey we hail today

Girls of Prendergast High.

This is the link to the Blue Ribbon Commission's Report released earlier this month:
http://www.faithinthefuture.com/pdf/commission-report.pdf