Annual Report 2008-2009 - Doane Academy

Quilt Project
Joan Wright Konecny ’59 is donating her time and talents
to make a quilt out of old uniforms. This quilt will
be on display at the school and will be raffled off during
Founders Day 2009. Please send your clean uniforms to:
Joan Konecny
Dancing Bird Ranch
10314 County Road 417a
Navasota, TX 77868-8610
936 870-3348 or joanwk@embarqmail.com
Yearbooks for Sale
The years are 1971, 1972, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992,
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002. Please
contact Lollie Rogers for costs and shipping information:
Abr44@comcast.net or 609 324-1303.
From the Archives
The following are extracts from the Journal of Miss —— ,
189 – , featured in an earlier issue of Ivy Leaves.
“How you would laugh if you could see the girls as the
end of the term approaches. ‘Peeps into Vacation’ or
holes in the elbows of their dresses are seen on every
side, and I think there is little effort to prevent the
disaster. They rather glory in their appearance. One
week until examination! Everyone is studying hard and
such a medley and discord of sounds as the dozen pianos
make!”
And more journal extracts:
Mrs. Fisher’s Memories of Saint Mary’s Hall in the 1870s
One luxury we had was the privilege of buying one saucer
of ice cream on Saturday, but we were very carefully
watched lest we should try to get a second. On Friday,
pumpkin pie was invariably
the dessert and
almost without exception,
every girl loathed
Who knew they were pumpkin killers?
p
Ivy Leaves Annual Report
the very sight of it. When we found the pumpkins were
stored in the basement, we resolved to mutilate them
beyond recognition, but the pumpkins were too much
for our vigor. Hurl them as hard as we could against
the stone walls, they resisted all efforts at destruction
and we had to resort to other means to banish pumpkin
pie from the menu. So we agreed that on the coming
Friday, we would mutilate our pieces of pie and leave
the remains on our plate, which we did. No allusion was
made to our action, but from thenceforth, no dessert
was served on Friday.
Musings over Ivy
I’ve been spending a lot of time this season in my garden
pulling out the ivy that has found its way into the nooks
and crannies of every bush and tree.
Years ago the ivy tradition was introduced at Saint
Mary’s Hall as a memorial to a beloved school nurse.
Fresh ivy was pinned to the dresses of the seniors for
Commencement and somehow ivy became a school symbol
after that. Shiny dark green ivy leaves are beautiful,
but if the vine is allowed to mature, it develops a thick
stem covered with invasive hairs. These hairs, if allowed
to penetrate the bark of a tree, will kill the tree over
time, sucking the very life out of the host.
As I worked to pull out my ivy, I realized that we graduates
can be like ivy, often beautiful but sometimes
detrimental. If we cling to the past, we can become
a negative force in the life of the school, rather than
a source of nourishment for it. We should be like the
powerhouse leaves of the plant, using photosynthesis to
provide energy to the school, not the hairs that rob the
host tree of its nutrition.
Fellow graduates, please think about what you can do
for our School, now while it is flourishing. We still need
your help to spread the word about a wonderful institution
of learning.
Whatever you think about my metaphor, I am still pulling
that ivy out! The Editor
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