CT PHOTOS BY TODD MUSKOPF
Three former faculty members of Mary, Help of Christians School attend the reception. Pictured are Connie Steele, now at Mary Queen of Peace, Sister Aquinas Kurtz, former principal of MHC, and Feliza Poling, now principal at St. Peter School.	Father Charles Lang, pastor of Mary, Help of Christians Parish, Larry Estes, principal at Mary, Help of Christians School, and Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk at a reception following the Mass celebrating the golden anniversary of Mary, Help of Christians School.

School celebrates golden anniversary

Mary, Help of Christians a Fairborn institution

By David Eck

DAYTON DEANERY — Mary, Help of Christians School in Fairborn started the new school year with a birthday party — its own.

The school, which first opened for the 1957-58 school year, celebrated its golden anniversary Aug. 26 with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop of Cincinnati Daniel E. Pilarczyk and a reception. A pizza party was held at the school the evening before.

The church was full for the Mass, as former students, teachers and friends of the school came to recognize the milestone. About 300 people, mostly former teachers and alumni, also attended the pizza party. Visitors came from as far away as Virginia, Florida and New Mexico.

At the Mass, Archbishop Pilarczyk spoke of the role Catholic education plays in preparing people for God’s kingdom.

"If our mind and our heart aren’t properly shaped and formed, we’re not going to enter the kingdom," Archbishop Pilarczyk said in his homily. "It won’t be because we haven’t fulfilled enough requirements. It will be because we simply won’t fit there.

"This school, like every Catholic school, has been about salvation," he said. "It has been about the kingdom. It has been about preparing its students to be citizens of heaven, to fit in with the angels and the saints in an eternity of fulfillment and happiness."

Father Charles Lang, pastor at Mary, Help of Christians, concelebrated the Mass. Deacon Max Roadruck read the Gospel. The procession also featured eight fourth-degree Knights of Columbus in full regalia.

The gift bearers for the Mass were three generations of the Pitstick family, all of whom have been involved with the school. Larry Estes, the school’s principal, carried the collection to the altar.

The school building opened in 1957 and also served as the parish church until 1970.

At the reception in the school’s all-purpose room, where the Masses were once held, dozens of large photos from the past covered the walls. Adults smiled and pointed as they spotted themselves or their friends as grade-school children.

They chuckled at their appearance and the uniforms they once wore.

Mary Margaret Landry Culp, a 1979 graduate of the school, found a photo of herself in a music class sitting next to her best friend. Another picture showed her, wearing long plaid uniform pants, helping put up the school flag.

"I was very blessed to be a student at Mary, Help of Christians," she said. "It was just the very best experience."

She recalled many activities of her grade-school years including students making pretzels, a talent show, craft mini activity courses held during recess and 1976, when America celebrated it’s bicentennial. She remembers a skit in which each student portrayed a figure from America’s early history — she was Betsy Ross. And each day the teacher would share a fact about the nation.

"(The teachers) did so many amazing things," she said. "I have so many memories."

Franciscan Sister of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Aquinas Kurtz served as principal of the school from 1972-79. Sister Aquinas, who was a teacher at the school when it first opened before leaving for several years, moved around the room chatting with former students and teachers. She wore a broad smile.

"They were good years," she said. "I think there is a vibrant spirit here."

She said the school always had the support of the parents and the parish pastor.

Estes, who has been principal since 2004, was pleased with turnout of the school’s alumni.

"I think it’s invigorating, somewhat, their spirit," he said.