Sister Janet:  26 Years at Little Flower
by Joellen McDonald  

Sister Janet Vietor, O.P., is a Little Flower tradition herself. After 26 years of teaching second grade, then fourth grade, and now sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Literature and Social Studies, she knows most of the Little Flower families, past and present. She seemed a perfect choice to talk about how the school and parish have changed over this period of time.

Sister Janet, a Dominican sister, arrived at Little Flower in 1974 after four years of teaching at St. Augustine’s school in upstate New York. She lived in the parish convent at 1275 Arch Terrace, along with Sister Louise Schmid, then principal of the school; Sister Hilda, the librarian; Sister Christine, who taught third grade; and Sister Kathleen Therese, who was retired. In 1992, when all the sisters moved out of our parish convent, Sister Janet relocated to the convent at Immaculate Heart of Mary in south St. Louis but continues as the only Dominican teaching at Little Flower. The last Dominican principal was Sister Sheila Brennan who left in 1987.

Arriving in 1974, Sister Janet was recruited by parishioner Bill Kelly to dance in a skit for the last official Ball and Chain production as part of the Little Flower 50th anniversary celebration in 1975. Sister danced along with other faculty members and some of her students’ parents.

During her tenure at Little Flower School, class sizes have grown, shrunk, and grown again, which has required some ingenuity in classroom use as well. The science room, currently on the third floor, was largely unused in Sister’s early years. The library moved from the second floor to the third floor, with more materials and choices for students. Kindergarten, which had been discontinued before Sister arrived, was re-established in 1976. The Kindergarten classroom, however, has moved around the second floor several times. Today, the Kindergarten children reside in the rear of the building on the second floor where Mrs. Jane Sudhoff and then Mrs. Sue Renz taught first grade.

Computers were nonexistent at Little Flower when Sister Janet arrived in 1974. Today, computers are in every classroom, as well as in an up-to-date computer lab. The first computers were brought into the school through an early Apple Computer project. Volunteers originally worked with students in a small “lab.” The teachers were trained both in the use of computers and how to develop plans using computers with the students through the PACT program, which required teachers to attend Saturday classes. Sister Janet noted that as Little Flower continues to advance in the computer age, Internet access allows students to conduct research in the computer lab.

Little Flower School has never had the resources to retain a full-time physical education teacher, an art teacher, or a music teacher. Teaching these disciplines have usually been an additional responsibility for the classroom teachers. The physical education curriculum was largely a volunteer effort in Sister Janet’s early years. Parishioners like Sue Rice and teachers with an interest in physical fitness provided classes. Later, instructors were contracted through the SHAPE program. Currently, parishioner Kathy Saeger is the physical education teacher in the school.

Music education has also been taught in various ways to the students over the years. In the 1950s and 1960s the school had a marching band, complete with uniforms. By the 1970s, however, there was no formal music education in the school. When parishioner Abe Campbell was hired as an upper grade teacher in the school, he worked with the students, directing and choreographing musicals as complex as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Music training and directing performances has since fallen into the hands of various on a variety of part-time music teachers and the parish music directors. Art classes continue to be taught by the homeroom teachers in the lower grades and have been coordinated by different teachers in the upper grades.

Over the years, room changes evolved to accommodate changing conditions. For example, the principal’s office moved from the ground floor to the second floor and is now back again on the ground floor. One significant change during Sister Janet’s time has been the transition of a volunteer school secretary into a full-time position.

A 1990s curriculum change ushered in a pre-Kindergarten program. Space was created from a storage area on the ground floor located behind the stage in the School Hall. The room is bright and airy, with a separate entrance onto the school playground.

Times have changed the venerable Cultural Enrichment and Education Program known as C.E.E.P. This program was the brainchild of Joanne O’Connor, who sought and received funding to implement it, and worked with the teachers so that various cultural activities and experiences could be integrated into their curriculum plans. Although live theater and music continue to be brought into the school each year, field trips outside of the school have decreased in number. Parents are not as available to provide transportation for field trips, and the increased cost of public transportation makes such opportunities less accessible. Particularly in the upper grades, programs conducted in the school provide cultural enrichment.

School uniforms have transitioned, too. In the 1970s, girls wore red plaid jumpers and white blouses. Everyone was required to wear either black or brown leather shoes. Boys had to wear navy blue pants and white shirts. Later white polo or turtleneck shirts, without logos, were allowed. Now, girls in the younger grades wear navy blue and green plaid jumpers, while the girls in the upper grades wear skirts of the same material. An alternative is navy blue pants and shorts in warmer weather. The boys wear navy blue pants, too. All students can wear tennis shoes.
Other changes Sister Janet has seen in her years here are smaller families, frequently with both parents working outside of the home. This translates into the need for after school care, less availability of parents for volunteering during the school day for things like lunch and yard duties, field trips, and special parties. However, more fathers have stepped forward to volunteer for school activities than in the past. The pace of life has quickened over her 26 years at Little Flower. Parents and children have busier lives. There are more sports and other extracurricular opportunities now.

What has not changed? Many of the most enriching elements of parish and school life remain much the same. The children still participate in planning liturgies for class Masses and the once-a-week All School Mass. Prayer services continue to help the students grow more fully in their faith during special times in the church calendar, like Advent and Lent. Teachers and the Director of Religious Education work closely with students to plan Masses and services.

Social service projects remain an integral part of the Catholic experience at Little Flower. In Sister Janet’s early years, these projects were part of the students’ preparation for Confirmation and First Communion, originally orchestrated to help custodian Joe McEntee around the school grounds, enlarging in scope as needs were identified. The class parties to celebrate Halloween and Valentine’s Day in the upper grades were eventually transformed into service opportunities, with students sometimes volunteering to do work for people in the parish and, on other occasions, to visit nursing homes, or shelters, or day care facilities were organized. During the past year, the principal, Debbie Marino, asked parishioner Mary Morgan to organize volunteers to transport students to social service centers around the area. As of result of Mary’s efforts, during the 1999-2000 school year, students volunteered at St. Patrick’s Center, Bread for Life, St. Agnes Home, Our Lady of Life, and Hosea House.

In the 1970s, Sister Janet remembers that students were encouraged by Sister Hilda to donate money to the Holy Childhood Association. An annual mission carnival was held one afternoon each year in the School Hall to support the mission work of the Dominicans in Pakistan. While Clare Ortmeier was principal, a monthly giving program was instituted. Each month a special project is targeted ranging from local to state, national, or international projects, emphasizing social justice. The goal of this program is to help the children become aware of the needs of others. Almost 100% of the students participate in this program. Students bring in 50 cents for the designated charity and they are awarded with a play clothes day. Becoming educated about other people and their needs is incorporated into classroom materials so that the students learn why their efforts are important and how they can impact on other people.

Sister Janet emphasizes that throughout her 26 years at Little Flower, people who visit the school, and those who come into contact with the students on field trips, always comment about how friendly, cooperative, and attentive the children are. She believes that while the faculty receives the compliments, it is the families who deserve the real credit for instilling the values that lead to this behavior. With everyone working together, the children and teachers benefit, as do all of us who are part of Little Flower Parish.