Tyler

By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

Bishop T.K. Gorman Catholic School officially turns 50 on Tuesday, the exact date five decades ago when what was then known as Tyler Catholic High opened its doors to about 60 students and nine staff members.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Gorman will begin the school day Tuesday the way the students and faculty began the school year Sept. 2, 1958 -- by gathering around the flag pole for prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Gorman students and faculty will remember the original teachers and students in grades seven through 10 who opened the school, the principal said.

Also in honor of the "golden jubilee," at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, the Gorman community will celebrate mass with Bishop Alvaro Corrada, bishop of the Diocese of Tyler. After the mass, students, staff, families and friends will begin 50 continuous hours of prayer and Eucharistic adoration in the school chapel, ending at 1 p.m. Thursday.

"In many ways, a celebration of a jubilee like this for an institution is an acknowledgement of how this school has affected so many different lives through 50 years in Tyler," Gorman Principal Jim Franz said.

"I think back of those 63 students who were here on Sept. 2, 1958 and the nine or 10 staff members who ran the school in those days and know that we are carrying on the tradition that they started.

"I doubt any of them could have foreseen what this school would become in East Texas -- just like we can't imagine what it will be like in 50 years. We carry on the same purpose, the same mission. We're tied to them through the institution's history."

According to Gorman information, Catholic schooling began in Tyler in 1893 when St. Joseph's Academy opened, operated by the Benedictine Sisters. This attempt at Catholic schooling, however, did not last long. Fifty-two years later Immaculate Conception parish laid the cornerstone for St. Gregory Catholic Elementary School. In 1945, the first group of School Sisters of Notre Dame came to Tyler to teach 102 students at St. Gregory's. Within 10 years, increasing demand and support for higher education in the Catholic School System brought about plans to build a high school, according to information from Gorman.

In 1956, under the direction of Msgr. Vincent Wolfe, pastor of Immaculate Conception, land was purchased in south Tyler for the establishment of a Catholic high school. Two years later, Tyler Catholic High opened on Sept. 2, 1958.

The dedication ceremony for this school took place on Oct. 5, 1958 with Bishop Thomas Kieley Gorman presiding. In 1970, the school was renamed in his honor.

Bishop T. K. Gorman Catholic School and St. Gregory Catholic Elementary School now form the Tyler Catholic School System.

"A lot of parents and grandparents and guardians and friends have made many sacrifices to make sure this institution has been able to carry out its mission for the last 50 years," Franz said. "Hundreds of students have graduated from Gorman over the years -- each of them having been formed and guided in strong ways by the institution."

Sister Carol George of the School Sisters of Notre Dame was one of the students in the first graduating class of Gorman in 1961. The year 1961 was the first year of graduation since the top class in the 1958-59 school year was the 10th grade.

Sister George went on to belong to the same congregation of sisters that once taught at Tyler Catholic High. It was no coincidence, she said.

"They influenced me greatly," she said of the sisters. "I think it was because of their patience in working with students."

She now teaches at Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Oak Cliff. She's been teaching for more than 30 years.

Gorman was a place where she gained confidence, she said.

"For me personally it was very important. Gorman was a small school. It had a very family atmosphere. It was very community oriented," she said. "Just the fact that I was able to participate in all of these extra curricular activities gave me a lot of self confidence so that when I went into college I did not hesitate �participating in different kinds of activities."

She also said that because it was a Catholic school, students who attended were able to celebrate their religion.

As for the school's 50th anniversary, Sister George said, "I think that certainly Gorman has something to celebrate. I feel like after 50 years, they've had a lot of successes. I think it's marvelous that T.K. Gorman has been able to grow so much in these past 50 years."

The early years of the school were guided by the efforts of Msgr. Edward McCullough and Msgr. Joseph McCallum along with the School Sisters of Notre Dame, according to a prepared statement from Gorman. Msgr. McCallum is credited with directing the school towards a college preparatory format. The current high school gym and football field were built under his guidance and the stadium bears his name. According to Gorman information, the school struggled with finances and morale even in the early years, but many people sacrificed to make sure the school stayed open.

In the 1970s and 80s, Pastor Msgr. Milam Joseph lead the school system through more than 20 years of growth, including the construction of the middle school wing in 1981, according to Gorman. The middle school facility and gym currently serve as a community center for both school and parish functions.

In the early 1990s, the school fought declining enrollment, administrative and faculty instability and a spiraling debt, which led to talk of the school closing, according to Gorman information. The decade ended, though, with Gorman being the first school in East Texas to be named a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Exemplary School. In more recent years the school has seen increased enrollment, increased stability with faculty and administration and a balanced operating budget, according to the school.

Gorman is one of only eleven Catholic high schools in the country to be named a Top 50 Catholic High School by the Acton Institute for four years in a row.

Recent additions to the school include an all weather track in 2000, a Fine Arts classroom wing in 2003, a renovated Haddad high school gym with restored performance areas and new air conditioning in 2005 and major renovations in the Holy Family Library in 2007, according to Gorman's statement.

This year the school has "record enrollment" with 413 students as well as "strong faculty and staff stability," according to Gorman. The 52 graduates in the Class of 2008 all went on to post-secondary collegiate institutions.

"Typically, historians may judge an institution's successes through the buildings we've erected over the years or through major awards or accomplishments the school as a whole has received � but really the accomplishments of a school are in having touched and formed students' lives," Franz, the school's principal since 1998, said. "Our success is in having touched students, bringing them to the gospel of Jesus Christ, helping them to understand truth, helping them to see and understand and question the world, helping them to be effective citizens � helping them to be leaders in the community -- that's where the success of a school is really judged."

Several teachers at Gorman are also former students and have sent their children to attend the school. They said they are excited and proud to see Gorman turn 50.

Judy Ruesewald, a sixth and eighth grade theology teacher and a 1981 graduate of Gorman, began teaching at Gorman in 1990. Two of her kids have graduated from Gorman, and she plans for her other four children to do the same.

"I'm very excited to be able to be a part of it," Ms. Ruesewald said of the anniversary of the school. "I feel like Gorman has been such a part of my life, to be able to help celebrate that is very exciting for me. This is an extended family for me and always has been. It's a privilege to be able to teach here.

"I truly believe Gorman is the best school not only in East Texas but anywhere that I've been. I don't believe you'll find a more caring group of individuals - from the principal to the teachers to the staff to the maintenance crew," she said, also noting the school system president, parents and students. "The difference is that here we can focus our children on growing to be people who center their lives around Christ, no matter what faith they are, and that makes all the difference."

Since she went to school there, she said she has seen Gorman grow to be "just better and better."

"The leadership from our current principal has helped the school to grow tremendously from where we used to be," she said. "It starts from the top and goes down."

Lisa Breedlove, a middle school math teacher at Gorman who graduated from Gorman in 1986, said she is excited as well.

"I am proud that we're still here because I know that's sometimes been in question," Ms. Breedlove said of the school's history. "I'm glad we've made it this far. I'm just glad to still be a part of it all."

Gorman felt like a home for her while she attended, she said, noting also that her siblings attended, her father taught at Gorman and her children go to school at Gorman.

"It's one of the reasons my husband didn't mind moving to Tyler, even though we didn't have children when we moved here," she said. "He said, 'ok, we'll move to Tyler and put our kids through St. Gregory's and Gorman,' and I remember saying to him, 'you don't know anything about Gorman,' and he said, 'I know what kind of people they turn out, so that's good enough for me.'"

Ms. Breedlove said, "I'm glad to have my kids here � They love it just as much as I did. We're just part of Gorman and Gorman's part of us � We all are family."

The students of Gorman also seem to feel that sense of pride and family.

"We're a really close knit community," Bijan Stephen, a 17-year-old Gorman senior, said, adding that new students are always welcomed and fit in. "It really is a community. Actually, it's not even a community - it's a family."

Holly Robertson, a 17-year-old senior at Gorman, said, "You can walk through any hallway and have teachers who know you're name, always, and there's never students who slip through the cracks. It really does become like your family."

Bijan and Holly said they are proud and glad to be a part of the school as it reaches its 50th anniversary.

As they think about the history of their school, they think about the photos that hang on the wall in the Gorman cafeteria - showing the graduating classes from 1961 to present day.

It's clear to see the progression of the school from the old black and white photos, which feature the first graduates from Tyler Catholic High, students such as Sister George.

"It reminds you," Holly said of the photo array. "You see how the school has changed."

And a spot is reserved on the wall for Holly and Bijan's Class of 2009.

"It builds a sense of community," Bijan said. "Because you know one day you're going to be up there."

THE ORIGINALS: Above, staff and faculty at Bishop T. K. Gorman High School break ground for the school gymnasium in 1965. Below is a scene from the 1958-59 yearbook of the parking lot of Bishop T. K. Gorman High School.
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